Puri: A devotee died allegedly due to suffocation while pulling the ‘Darpadalan’ chariot of Goddess Subhadra during the Bahuda Yatra, the return car festival, police said.
The deceased was identified as Abhiram Das (57) from Cuttack. He suddenly fell while pulling the chariot near Bagala Dharmasala and was immediately rushed to the Puri District Hospital, where he died during treatment Friday, a police officer said.
“The deceased had hypertension and was under medication. He suddenly collapsed and died during treatment,” Director of Health Service (DHS), Mahesh Mohan Panda told PTI.
The medical officer said that about 100 people were brought to the district hospital in Puri. They complained of uneasiness, and most of them were released after primary treatment and rest for some time.
Seven of them were admitted to the hospital, and their condition is stable, and they would soon be discharged, he said.
Police said though there was no crowd rush near the chariot, the weather in Puri was hot and humid. The relative humidity level in the coastal town was recorded at 85 to 90 per cent in the evening.
With the fresh death, the Rath Yatra toll in Puri has increased to three as two other persons died, one allegedly due to suffocation and another due to cardiac arrest July 16 when chariots were being pulled towards Gundicha temple.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJD released a video purportedly showing a stampede-like situation during the pulling of Lord Jagannath’s ‘Nandighosh’ chariot.
PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
However, BJD vice president Sanjay Das Burma demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged mismanagement during Rath Yatra, “which had led to the death of three people”.
“This is yet another sad manifestation of the Odisha government’s continuous administrative failure in managing the world’s largest annual spiritual gathering,” Das Burma said.
Das Burma alleged that a total of 102 devotees were injured due to crowd mismanagement in Bada Danda or Grand Road during Bahuda Yatra.
“Of them, 24 are in a critical condition and are undergoing treatment in the trauma care unit. The alarming statistics make it clear that the administration has not learnt any lessons from the previous incident and its negligence and incompetence have once again put the lives of thousands of devotees at risk,” he said.
The BJD demanded immediate and appropriate compensation for the families of the deceased.
It also demanded that all the seriously injured devotees undergoing treatment in the trauma care unit be shifted to the advanced super speciality hospital in Bhubaneswar without delay and provided with the best treatment.
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