Stampede during Puri rath yatra – two killed, 14 injured

Two women in their 50s are reported to have been killed during a stampede in Puri on the occasion of the annual Rath Yatra. It was a massive turnout of nearly 10-lakh devotees this year in this annual chariot festival of Lord Jagannath along with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. The stampede left another 14 injured – most of them were women and children.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india dated 19 July 2015.

The stampede apparently occurred when the devotees were waiting to catch a glimpse of the new deities on their bedecked chariots at two places — Marichikot Chhak and Narendra Kona. The deaths took place at Marichikot Chhak around 5pm. Moreover, another over 20 were injured when Balabhadra's chariot reached Narendra Kona.
The festive mood was also marred by reports of some other deaths in different accidents. A man drowned in the sea, another was run over by a train and a man fell to his death from the roof of a building while watching the chariot pulling festival. Two others are reported to be missing in the sea – their bodies are yet to be recovered.
It seems around 500 pilgrims, mostly elders, fainted in the unbearable humidity and had to be treated at the temporary health camps. Shree Jagannath Temple Administration had announced insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh for each unnatural death during the nine-day car festival in Puri. There were six pilgrims who had died in stampede in front of chariots in 2008.
Incidentally, due to the stampede, the schedule has been disturbed - only one chariot, that of of Balabhadra reached the destination Gudicha Temple on Saturday while the chariots of Subhadra and Jagannath could not. The temple authorities have indicated that the chariot pulling will resume on Sunday morning.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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