3 Killed, 50 Injured in Stampede in Puri

A predawn stampede in Odisha’s Puri on Sunday claimed the lives of three devotees and left more than 50 others injured, casting a pall over the ongoing nine-day Rath Yatra festivities.

The deceased were identified as Prabhati Das, Basanti Sahu, and Premakanta Mohanty.

The incident occurred around 4 am near the Sri Gundicha temple, where thousands had gathered to catch a glimpse of the divine Trinity — Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra — stationed on their grand chariots.

According to eyewitness accounts, chaos erupted when a truck carrying charamal (palm log shafts used as makeshift steps for the chariots) moved into the dense crowd without proper escort or clearance. The unexpected intrusion triggered panic, resulting in a deadly stampede.

The situation worsened as an uncontrolled surge of devotees from multiple directions further overwhelmed the already packed area. Eyewitnesses described heart-wrenching scenes as people trapped beneath the stampeding crowd cried out for help. In the absence of immediate police and civil defence intervention, several victims were rescued by fellow devotees themselves.

The glaring lack of visible security, medical assistance and crowd control has raised grave concerns over the administration’s preparedness to handle an event of this magnitude.

Odisha’s law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, director-general of police Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, and other senior officials rushed to the scene to assess the situation and coordinate relief operations.

Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi promptly ordered an administrative inquiry.

“The negligence in crowd control is unpardonable. I beg forgiveness for this tragic incident and stand in solidarity with the bereaved families. No official responsible will be spared,” the chief minister declared.

In a swift administrative reshuffle, Puri collector Sidhartha Sekhar Swain and superintendent of police Vinit Agrawal were transferred. Chanchal Rana and Pinak Mishra were appointed as the new collector and SP of Puri, respectively.

The Odisha police had earlier claimed to have deployed AI-powered surveillance and anti-drone systems to monitor crowd and traffic movement. Yet, as thousands of vehicles streamed into Puri from Saturday onwards, each carrying five to nine people, the security apparatus failed to anticipate and manage the crowd surge between the chariots stationed on the Grand Road and Sri Gundicha temple.

The immediate trigger for the stampede was a truck carrying charamal, meant to be used as makeshift steps for Lord Jagannath’s chariot, which crept into the already packed crowd without an escort. Fearing they might be run over, devotees panicked and fled in all directions, setting off the deadly crush.

As people were trampled in the ensuing chaos, eyewitnesses reported a shocking absence of police, civil defence, and first-aid personnel in the vicinity. The injured lay unattended until fellow devotees stepped in to rescue them.

Reacting sharply, former CM and BJD president Naveen Patnaik took to X to hold the state government responsible for what he termed “complete traffic mismanagement”.

"The state government’s careless and insensitive attitude led to this heart-wrenching tragedy. I extend my condolences to the bereaved families. I hope good sense prevails, and the government takes adequate steps to prevent such mishaps in the future," Mr Patnaik posted.