Mad rush leads to stampede in Jagannath temple

Puri, Nov 4: A mad rush of devotees from the Mangala temple side to the sanctum sanctorum led to today's stampede inside the famous Jagannath Temple here causing the death of four devotees.

According to eyewitnesses' devotees waiting for darshan of Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra in the temple complex, started rushing into the sanctorum as soon as the inner door opened.

The devotees who were inside the Jagmohan(sanctum sanctorum) witnessing the ''Mangal Alati'' when tried to get out of the sanctorum' faced a surging crowd at the stairs facing the Mangala temple.

This led to a stampede and some people fell on the ground. Many suffered bleeding injuries and asphyxia. Police present on the spot and some locals soon evacuated the injured to the district headquarters hospital where two were pronounced 'brought dead'. Two others succumbed to their injuries.

Mr Ramaniranjan Panda, a Rotarian of the Burla town in western Orissa present at the time, said at about 0640 hours those waiting at the door suddenly made a mad rush to enter the temple sanctorum as the door opened.

The stream of devotees coming from the sanctorum had a tussle with the large number of devotees trying to get into the sanctorum.

About 50 people fell on the stairs and were ran over by the surging crowd.

Jyotshna Das, another devotee said as a result of the stampede, a lamp stand with diyas fell on the devotees and some of them sustained burns. This aggravated the situation and chaos prevailed with the devotees, mostly elderly ladies, becoming the victims.

UNI