Press Trust of India Posted online: Saturday, November 04, 2006 at 0926 hours IST Updated: Saturday, November 04, 2006 at 2005 hours IST
Puri, November 4: A stampede at the 12th century Sri Jagannath temple in Puri on Saturday left four persons, including three women, dead and around 20 others injured prompting the Orissa government to order a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The stampede occurred when a huge crowd of waiting pilgrims surged forward after a door to the sanctum sanctorum in the shrine opened this morning when the 'mangala arati' ritual was on.
The four victims included three elderly women and an old man, official sources said.
The three women victims were identified as Basanti Nayak, Sarojini Panda and Shanti Rath while the man was yet to be identified.
The injured were rushed to the district headquarter hospital where the condition of at least two persons was stated to be serious.
A crowd had gathered at the temple since early morning for a 'darshan' of the deities on the occasion of 'Badaosha', a festival observed in the Hindu month of Kartik.
The Chief Administrator of the temple, Suresh Mohapatra said as soon as the door opened, the crowd surged forward causing the devotees in front to trip. This led to the stampede.
Law minister Biswabhushan Harichandan announced a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Orissa High Court at Bhubaneswar.
An ex-gratia of Rs one lakh would be given to the next of kin of the deceased, while the cost of treatment of the injured persons would be borne by the government, he said.
Admitting that the temple administration was not prepared for such an eventuality, Mohapatra said "we did not anticipate such an incident as the crowd is generally not large during the mangala arati ritual."
Eyewitness accounts said that the stampede occurred at the 'sata pahacha' near the 'jhulana mandap' inside the sprawling temple complex.
Sevayats and volunteers carried the injured out through the Lion's gate from where they were ferried to the hospital in autorickshaws and other modes of transport.
Temple authorities said that the incident did not interfere with the conduct of the myriad complex rituals in the temple.
This is the second stampede in the temple in 13 years.
Several people had died in a similar incident at the time of "Nagarjuna Besa" of the deities in 1993.
Home Secretary, Tarunkanti Mishra, who had been made the working president of the temple managing committee only a few days ago, the director general of police Amarananda Pattnayak and Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Bidhu Bhushan Mishra have rushed to Puri.
Puri, November 4: A stampede at the 12th century Sri Jagannath temple in Puri on Saturday left four persons, including three women, dead and around 20 others injured prompting the Orissa government to order a judicial inquiry into the incident.
