Puri: On Sunday, June 29, 2025, a tragedy of three deaths and more than 50 injuries was observed during the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha, due to a tragic stampede near the Shree Gundicha Temple as a result of severe oversights in crowd management.
The riot occurred between 4 and 5 AM when thousands of followers of the deities rushed to Saradhabali to see them in their chariots. The crush led to the death of its victims, who were identified as Premakanta Mohanty (80), Basanti Sahoo (36), and Prabhati Das (42). More than 50 others, including some in critical condition, have been treated at Puri District Hospital.
An eyewitness who is a Puri resident, Swadhin Kumar Panda, said the scene was chaotic since there was poor planning. I was close to the temple up to 2-3 AM. He said the police did not control the crowd. Panda said that one of the two gates of entry into the temple was reserved for VIPs, and devotees had to enter through an exit located too far away. caused overcrowding at what can be called the main gate, which caused the stampede. When the vehicles, including trucks, had clogged the area, he also mentioned them to make the situation worse.
#WATCH | Puri, Odisha: Swadhin Kumar Panda, a resident of Puri, says, "I was there near the temple till 2-3 am last night, but the management was not good. A new way was made for VIPs, and common people were asked to exit from a distance. People started exiting from the entrance… https://t.co/jFE36gLDfu pic.twitter.com/6Ln6348Eoy
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2025
One of the grieving men who lost his wife in the stampede based his criticism on the timeliness of the response to the situation by the authorities. He described the tragedy as a response to the mismanagement of exit ways.
Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan of Odisha has conveyed heartfelt condolences and declared that a high-level investigation has been announced in this regard. He said that we will find the actual causes and act severely with the ones that caused it. The government of the state has made sure that the injured are taken to medical hospitals, but there is still anger in people over the loss of life that could have been avoided.
There has been a wide outcry on the incident, with former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launching a broadside on the government with its evident incompetence in managing the crowd.