Odisha: 3 killed, many injured in stampede during Puri Rath Yatra near Gundicha temple

In a tragic incident, at least three devotees lost their lives and several others were injured after a stampede broke out near the Shri Gundicha Temple during the annual Rath Yatra in Odisha’s Puri on Sunday.

According to initial reports, the stampede happened in front of Lord Jagannath’s chariot, Nandighosh, when it reached the Gundicha Temple around 4–5 am.

As the three chariots arrived at the temple, huge crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of the deity. The massive crowd caused barriers to collapse, leading to chaos as many devotees fell near the chariot wheels.

The victims have been identified as Basanti Sahu from Bolagarh in Khorda district, and Premakanti Mohanty and Prabhati Das from Athantara village in Balianta block.

Officials said more than 10 lakh (one million) people attended the two-day Rath Yatra celebrations. On Friday, the first day of the yatra, over 10 lakh devotees participated, creating intense crowd pressure. By evening, around 625 people had fallen ill near Devi Subhadra’s chariot.

Saturday also saw many devotees falling sick, even though the crowd was 10–20 per cent smaller than on Friday. In total, over the past 24 hours, more than 650 people suffered health issues. At least 70 were hospitalised, with nine in critical condition.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Saturday, three young women travelling to Puri for the Rath Yatra died after being run over by a bus on the highway between Bhubaneswar and the coastal pilgrimage town.

Police said the accident happened near Pipili on a bridge when the women, who were riding a two-wheeler, were hit by a motorcycle, causing them to fall onto the road. A government bus then ran over them.

Two women died at the scene, while the third died from her injuries on the way to Pipili community health centre.