3 dead, 50 injured after stampede during Rath Yatra in Odisha’s Puri

At least three people died and 50 others were injured in a stampede near Sri Gundicha Temple in Puri during the Rath Yatra on Sunday. The incident took place around 4 am when hundreds of devotees gathered near the temple, Puri District Collector Siddharth S Swain said. The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, and the condition of six people is critical, he said.

A local resident, Swadhin Kumar Panda, who was present near the temple late into the night, criticised the crowd management and administrative response. “I was there near the temple till 2–3 am last night, but the management was not good. A new way was made for VIPs, and common people were asked to exit from a distance. People started exiting from the entrance itself, which increased the crowd. The traffic system was also not good, as many vehicles with unauthorised passes came near the temple,” he said while speaking to news agency ANI.

(With inputs from PTI)