Puri: A stamped-like situation occurred at the Jagannath Temple in Puri today morning, injuring many devotees including habishyalis.
The injured persons have been admitted to the Puri Sadar Hospital for treatment.
According to reports, a number of Habishyalis entered Srimandir during the opening of the barricade for the divine darshan of deities in the holy Kartik month after Mangalati ritual in the morning. The overcrowding led to a stamped-like situation at the Satapahacha area of the temple. Many women Habishyalis fell on the ground, and even the temple police personnel failed to deal with the situation.
“Nearly 30-40 devotees were injured in the temple due to a stamped-like situation caused by overcrowding. Some lost their consciousness,” said a volunteer Manas Kumar Mohapatra, who brought a woman victim to the hospital.
“After Mangalati, we were allowed to go inside the temple. While we were waiting for darshan on the premises of the temple, a batch of devotees advanced without standing in queue. We fell down. Around 50 people fell on an old woman, who sustained a leg sprain in the incident. I was also the victim. The temple security forces could not be able to help us in lifting from the floor at the jam-packed temple campus. Many devotees were injured in the incident. We came to the hospital in an ambulance without having darshan,” narrated a woman devotee from Nachuni in Khordha district.
While many devotees were injured in the incident, the victims were sent to the hospital in phases.
