4 Killed, 30 Hurt in Puri Temple Stampede

BY: R. SATAPATHY & D. MOHAPATRA

Nov 5, PURI, ORISSA (ZEENEWS) — Four pilgrims, including three women, were killed and over 30 others injured in a stampede at the Jagannath Temple in Puri on Saturday. The incident took place around 6 am when thousands of devotees tried to rush into the temple after its door was opened for 'aarati'. Around 50,000 pilgrims were waiting for hours to enter the 12th century shrine.

The huge rush of devotees was because of Kartik Purnima that will be celebrated on Sunday. Women, especially widows, form the bulk of pilgrims during the month of Kartik. Notwithstanding the tragedy, the shrine went ahead with its normal rituals, a temple functionary said.

The injured were shifted to the Puri district hospital. A woman, who was seriously wounded, was sent to the SCB Medical College in Cuttack, 85 km from Puri. A helpline has been set up to assist people inquiring about their families and friends.

In a twist to the case, assembly Speaker and local MLA Maheswar Mohanty alleged that one of the doors was closed to facilitate the visit of Orissa law secretary Dillip Kumar Sahoo. But, Sahoo refuted it by saying, "I went to the temple, but the door was not closed for me. I went like any other visitor for darshan."

The state government ordered a judicial inquiry, to be conducted by a sitting judge of the Orissa High Court, into the incident. Jagannath Temple's chief administrator Suresh Mohapatra said,"Preliminary reports indicate the stampede took place after a woman screamed when her clothes caught fire from a lamp she was carrying inside the temple."

A five-member fact-finding team would probe the incident and submit a report within 10 days to the temple management, he said. The government announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the families of each victim and free medical treatment for the injured.

"We had been waiting for the Lord's darshan for hours. Everybody tried to rush in when the door was thrown open. Suddenly, I found myself pushed from behind and fell down on the floor," said Muralidhar Pradhan. The 58-year-old man from Jagatsinghpur is now in hospital.

"I fell over a burning lamp and got wounded when I was pushed by the crowd," said Vekanteswari, a 57-year-old woman from Berhampur. Bhagaban Mohapatra, a local resident, said,"I could hardly see any police personnel engaged in regulating the pilgrims."

In 1993, five people had died in a stampede in the temple."Today's accident was similar to the 1993 stampede. Both are glaring examples of police failure. We decided to allow entry through one point (Lion's Gate) and exit through the other three gates. But, police could not handle the crowd, causing the stampede," recalled the then Puri collector Padmanab Samal.

"An inquiry report was submitted by retired justice J K Mohapatra. Had the recommendations been made public, the temple administration would have benefited and adopted effective crowd management measures. But, the report is yet to see the light of the day," he said.