Bhubaneswar: In a devastating incident, three devotees, including two women, were killed due to a stampede that occurred on Saradhabali near Sri Gundicha temple in Puri at around 4.00 AM on Sunday. The deceased have been identified as Basanti Sahu (36) of Bolagarh in Nayagarh, Premakant Mohanty of Bhubaneswar, and Pravati Das of Balipatna in Khurdha.
The unfortunate incident took place when a heavy crowd of devotees had gathered for darshan of Lord Jagannath and his siblings on chariots after the ‘Pahuda’ was opened at 4 am.
According to eyewitnesses, a truck loaded with Charamala wood suddenly entered the crowd, triggering the stampede. The chaos resulted in over 50 devotees being injured when more than 500 devotees were sitting on plastic mats at the time of the incident.
Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan expressed shock over the incident and assured a thorough investigation, stating that action would be taken accordingly. The Chief Minister has been apprised of the matter.
Meanwhile, DGP YB Khurania directed senior police officials to reach the spot and assess the situation. Khurania also visited Puri today in the morning and reviewed the situation personally.
