Stampede at Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri Leaves 3 Dead

Odisha – A tragic incident marred the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha, as a massive stampede near the Nandighosha chariot in front of the Gundicha temple claimed three lives and left more than 50 injured in the early hours of Sunday.

The stampede occurred around 4 am, when thousands of devotees gathered for darshan of Lord Jagannath’s chariot. In the resulting chaos, people were trampled as the crowd surged forward uncontrollably. Eyewitnesses claim a severe lack of police deployment at the spot worsened the situation.

“There was no proper crowd management. People started pushing, and suddenly everyone fell over each other. I’ve never experienced anything so horrifying,” said a visibly shaken devotee from Cuttack.

The deceased have been identified as Basanti Sahu (36), Prem Kanti Mahanty (78), and Prabhati Das. All three were local devotees and their bodies have been kept at Puri Medical College for post-mortem. Officials confirmed that six out of the 50 injured are in critical condition and undergoing treatment.

Dr. R.N. Pradhan from the Puri hospital stated, “We received more than 50 people with injuries ranging from fractures to serious internal trauma. Some are battling for their lives.”

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and announced an ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh each for the families of the deceased from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. “This is an extremely painful incident. We stand with the families in their hour of grief. Steps will be taken to ensure this never happens again,” the CM stated.