One dead, several injured in stampede-like situation at Puri Rath Yatra

Bhubaneswar: One person is feared to have died following a stampede-like situation during the annual Rath Yatra in Odisha's Puri on Thursday, although authorities have not officially confirmed either the death or the occurrence of a stampede.

The incident reportedly took place near Marichikund Square amid massive crowds gathered to witness the world-famous chariot festival.

Eyewitnesses said a rope barricade forming part of the outer security cordon either collapsed or several devotees lost their footing, triggering panic.

"We saw around 40 to 50 people fall on top of one another. Several devotees were injured, and four or five appeared to have sustained serious injuries," a devotee told reporters.

The witness said around 20 people were rescued and shifted to hospital in ambulances. They later learnt that an elderly devotee had allegedly died.

Sources also claimed that nearly 200 people had been admitted to hospitals and temporary medical facilities in Puri with complaints of suffocation and injuries caused by the unprecedented crowd and continuous rainfall. However, there was no official confirmation of the figures.

Lakhs of devotees thronged the holy coastal town on Thursday to participate in the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath.

The festival began with the Pahandi Bije ritual, during which Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and other deities were ceremonially taken from the 12th-century Shree Jagannath Temple to their elaborately decorated chariots.

The grand procession was accompanied by traditional musical instruments, Vedic chants and Odissi dance performances as the deities embarked on their nine-day journey to the Gundicha Temple, believed to be their birthplace.

While the Pahandi Bije rituals commenced ahead of schedule, they were completed more than two hours later than expected.