Puri jagannath rath yatra stampede: 3 devotees died and more than 50 people are said to be injured in a stampede near Gundicha temple during the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra festival in Puri, Odisha, on Sunday (June 29, 2025). The incident took place between 4 to 5 am when thousands of devotees gathered to watch the festival. During that time, there was chaos due to alleged entering the crowded area of ​​two religious trucks.
Expressing grief over the incident, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh to the families of the deceased. While taking action against the accident, he suspended Puri’s DCP Bishnu Charan husband and police commandant Ajay Padhi, while Collector Siddharth S Swain and SP Binit Aggarwal were transferred.
3 people died
The deceased have been identified as Premkant Mohanty (80), Basanti Sahu (36) and Prabhati Das (42). Eyewitnesses have blamed the plan and VIP system responsible for this chaos.
The state government has started investigation on the accident and Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) YB Khurania has been sent to take stock on the spot. This is the first time that such an incident took place near the Gundicha temple during the Rath Yatra.
#Watch Puri, Odisha: Swadhin Kumar Panda, A Resident of Puri, Says, Says, “I was there the temple Till 2-3 am last night, but the management was not good. A distance. People starting from the entrance… https://t.co/jfe36gldfu pic.twitter.com/6LN6348eoy
– ANI (@ani) June 29, 2025
‘Administration did not control the crowd properly’
Speaking to news agency ANI, Swadhin Kumar Panda, a resident of Puri, told on Sunday (June 29, 2025) that I was near the temple till 2-3 pm last night, but the management was not good to handle the crowd. A new route was created for VIP and the common people were asked to get out from a distance.
‘Many people died on the day of Rath Yatra’
Eyewitness Panda told that people started coming out of the entrance, which increased the crowd. The traffic system was also not good, because many unauthorized passes came near the temple. The administration did not control the crowd properly. The biggest problem was the exit gate.
He further said that many people died on the day of Rath Yatra, but the government and administration did not disclose it and said that there were no casualties. Today three people have died 2 women and 1 man. The administration of Odisha is responsible for this, because there was no police, administration officer present there at night.
Also read:
Puri Rath Yatra Stampede: Action on stampede in Jagannath Rath Yatra, transfer of DM-sp of Puri; DCP-Commandant Suspended; Law of compensation