Puri, June 29 -- In a tragic incident during the Rath Yatra festivities, three devotees lost their lives and seven others were injured in a stampede-like situation in front of the chariots near the Gundicha temple at Saradhabali during the early hours of today.
This marks the first such stampede-related deaths recorded at the Gundicha temple in the annals of Puri Rath Yatra history.
In the past,devotees have died in stampede in the Puri Rath Yatra during 2008,2012 and 2015 but not never such stampede had occurred near the Gundicha temple, the nine day sojourn of the trinity of the Sri Jagannath temple
While the state and district administrations attributed the tragedy to an overwhelming crowd of devotees seeking darshan of the deities, D...