At least three people are feared dead and several others injured following a stampede during the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha, on Sunday morning.
The tragic incident occurred near the Gundicha Temple, where a massive crowd had gathered to witness the sacred chariot procession. According to local media reports, chaos ensued as crowd control failed, resulting in a stampede. Official confirmation of the exact toll is awaited.
Visuals from the postmortem centre in Puri showed grieving families of the victims gathered outside. One man who lost his wife in the incident said, “When this happened, there was no response — neither from fire officials, rescue teams, nor the hospital staff. It’s a pathetic incident beyond words.”
Residents also blamed poor crowd management. Swadhin Kumar Panda, a local, alleged that arrangements for VIPs caused confusion among the general public, leading to congestion at the entrance. “The administration created a separate route for VIPs while pushing ordinary devotees to exit from a different path. The traffic system failed, unauthorised vehicles came too close to the temple, and there was no proper crowd control. Three people — two women and one man — have died. The government is not admitting it,” he said.
On the third day of the Rath Yatra, thousands of devotees from India and abroad had converged in Puri to take part in the world-famous religious procession. The Rath Yatra marks the ceremonial journey of Lord Jagannath, along with Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple, where the deities stay for a week before returning.
The Yatra began on Friday and is set to conclude on July 1 when the chariots return to the main temple. Authorities have not yet issued an official statement on the stampede, but rescue and medical teams are reportedly on the ground attending to the injured.
