Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra 2026: A major accident occurred on Thursday due to a stampede-like situation during the world famous Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra organized in Puri, Odisha. One devotee died due to suffocation and chaos amid the huge crowd that had gathered for the darshan of Lord Jagannath, while more than 120 devotees were admitted to Puri District Headquarters Hospital and other medical centers after falling unwell. After the incident, the administration immediately started relief and rescue operations and controlled the situation.

Situation worsened during Pahandi ritual

From Thursday morning itself, a crowd of lakhs of devotees had started gathering on the temple premises and Grand Road (Bada Dand). There was a competition among the devotees for darshan during the traditional 'Pahandi' ritual of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra. Meanwhile, the pressure of the crowd suddenly increased and a situation like pushing and shoving was created, due to which many people started suffocating and fell unconscious.

Heat and humidity became a major reason

Along with the crowd, the scorching heat and humidity also increased the problems of the devotees. According to the Health Department, most of the people rushed to the hospital became unwell due to suffocation, dehydration and crowd pressure. Many devotees were discharged after first aid, while the treatment of seriously affected people is continuing under the supervision of doctors.

Police and rescue team took charge

As soon as information about the incident was received, police, disaster management team and medical teams became active immediately. Through the emergency evacuation routes prepared in advance by the administration, the affected devotees were safely taken out of the crowd and taken to the hospital through ambulances. Officials say that the situation was saved from becoming more serious due to the timely start of the rescue operation.

Administration increased vigilance

After the accident, the Puri administration has further tightened the security arrangements on the Rath Yatra route. The deployment of additional police forces, ODRAF, NDRF, fire department and medical teams has been increased in the temple premises and surrounding areas. Also, an appeal is being made to the devotees through loudspeakers to use only the prescribed routes, maintain patience at crowded places and follow the instructions of the security personnel, so that any such untoward incident can be avoided in future.