Unexpected traffic, large gatherings: What led to the Jagannath Rath Yatra stampede?

Hindustan Times

5 hours ago

Three people were killed, and over 50 injured in a stampede at Saradhabali, near the Gundicha temple in Odisha's Puri early Sunday morning. The incident took place at around 4 am when hundreds of devotees had gathered near the temple.(PTI)
The incident took place early morning at around 4 am, when several devotees had gathered near the Gundicha temple, PTI quoted Puri District Collector Siddharth S Swain as saying.
The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital where they are receiving treatment. The deceased have been identified as Pravati Das (52) of Balipatna, Basanti Sahu (42) of Godabhanga and Premakanta Mohanty (78) of Bhubaneswar.
Odisha law minister Prithviraj Harichandan said the state government would initiate a probe into the incident, adding that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had been informed of the same. He added that strict action would be taken once the investigation is completed. What led to the stampede?
Early on Sunday, around 1,500 devotees had gathered around the Gundicha temple – around 3 km from the main Jagannath Temple – to catch a glimpse of the three deities in the chariots.
At about 4 am, two trucks loaded with Charamala wood – which is considered sacred – entered the Saradhabali area, as per eyewitnesses.
The unexpected arrival of the two trucks led to chaos among the devotees, following which several were injured and three people died of suffocation.
Meanwhile, the husband of one of the victims who lost her life alleged that no officials had responded when the incident occurred. 'When this incident happened, no one responded, neither the fire officials, nor the rescue team, nor the hospital team,' the man told ANI.
An eyewitness said that 'people fell over each other' and many were unconscious within a few minutes, adding that they rushed to the information centre seeking help. However, the eyewitness said that the centre could not do anything, and the ambulance was stationed around a kilometre away from the spot.
Another resident of Puri, who was allegedly at the temple till 3 am in the morning, highlighted that the management was 'not good'. Swadhin Kumar Panda told ANI that a new way had been made for the VIPs to enter the temple, and that the common people were being asked to exit from a distance. "People started exiting from the entrance itself, which increased the crowd," Panda said.
He said that the traffic management was also an issue, alleging that many vehicles with unauthorised passes had come near the temple.
The Rath Yatra in Puri commenced on Friday. During the annual Yatra, three grand chariots with the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Shubhadra are drawn by devotees from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple.
The deities will stay at the Gundicha Temple for a week before returning back to the Jagannath Temple on July 1, when the Yatra will conclude.