Puri, June 29 -- In a tragic incident, at least three devotees - two of them women - died and
six others were injured in a stampede-like situation at Saradhabali near Gundicha temple in the
early hours of Sunday during the darshan of the deities.
The incident occurred around 4 AM when a large number of devotees surged towards Saradhabali
to have darshan of the deities on their respective chariots.
Police have identified the deceased as Pravati Das, Basanti Sahu, and Premananda Mohanty. All six injured devotees have been admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital.
Eyewitnesses said that a truck carrying the charamals (ritual components for the chariots) entered the crowd, triggering panic and causing a stampede-like situation.
Dev...