Six killed, 50 injured during stampede; inquiry ordered

Puri, July 04 (UNI) At least six devotees were killed and 50 injured, two of them critically, in a stampede during the car festival here today.

The stampede occurred during the celestial procession of Devi Subhadra from the Jagannath temple to the chariot.

The heavy deployment of police and security personnel failed to control the crowd and the barricade put up there which led to a chaos leading to the stampede.

All the injured were immediately shifted to the Puri district headquarter hospital where six were declared dead on arrival.

Two of the critically injured were shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital after their condition deteriorated.

Out of the six dead, three were male and three female.

Two of the three females were identified as sisters and were from Bhubaneswar.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited the hospital at Puri and directed the hospital to provide free treatment to the patients.

Mr Patnaik also announced an exgratia of Rs one lakh to the next of kins of the deceased and ordered a high level inquiry by the member Board of Revenue.

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