Stampede Near Puri’s Gundicha Temple Leaves 3 Dead, Over 50 Injured

A tragic stampede near the Gundicha temple in Odisha’s Puri early Sunday morning left three people dead and more than 50 injured, authorities confirmed.

The incident occurred around 4 a.m. at Saradhabali, a crowded area near the temple, where hundreds of devotees had gathered, Puri District Collector Siddharth S Swain told PTI.

The injured were quickly taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. At least six people are reported to be in critical condition.

The victims have been identified as Pravati Das (52) from Balipatna, Basanti Sahu (42) from Godabhanga, and Premakanta Mohanty (78) from Bhubaneswar.

Officials have launched an investigation into the incident to determine the cause of the stampede and whether crowd management protocols were in place.