A tragic crowd surge during the Rath Yatra festival in Puri, Odisha, has left one attendee dead and numerous devotees hospitalized, officials said.
NEW DELHI — A sudden crowd surge at the celebrated Rath Yatra festival in Odisha’s coastal town of Puri on Thursday resulted in one fatality and multiple injuries, according to a news agency report.
The incident unfolded as tens of thousands gathered for the annual chariot procession, a centuries‑old event where deities are paraded through the streets in elaborately decorated wagons.
The festival, considered one of the world’s oldest and largest religious processions, featured the idols of Hindu deities being taken from the Jagannath Temple and carried through Puri’s streets.
Video footage captured injured devotees being carried to medical facilities while belongings such as shoes and bags were scattered across the area.
Odisha police reported that rescue crews administered first aid and oxygen to 33 individuals before transporting them to nearby hospitals.
Last year, three people died and over a dozen were hospitalized in a similar crowd surge during the same festival.
Crowd crushes are a recurring hazard at major Indian religious gatherings, where millions converge in confined spaces with limited safety measures. In January, at least 30 people were killed while rushing to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious assembly.
A comparable tragedy occurred in 2013 when panic over a potential bridge collapse at a temple in Madhya Pradesh led to at least 115 deaths, with many crushed or drowning in the river below.
