INDIA-FESTIVAL/OVERCROWDING Stampede at India chariot festival kills two, injures over 20

Record ID: 146521

  • Title: INDIA-FESTIVAL/OVERCROWDING Stampede at India chariot festival kills two, injures over 20
  • Date: 18th July 2015
  • Summary: PURI, INDIA (JULY 18, 2015) (REUTERS) CROWD OF HINDU DEVOTEES IN FRONT OF THE CHARIOTS OF LORD JAGANNATH, HIS SISTER SUBHADRA AND BROTHER BALBHADRA VARIOUS OF HUGE CROWDS ON THE ROAD IN FRONT OF THE CHARIOTS SECURITY PERSONNEL STRUGGLING TO CONTROL THE CROWDS AN INJURED MAN BEING CARRIED ON A STRETCHER THROUGH THE CROWDS A WOMAN BEING CARRIED ON A STRETCHER CROWD OF DEVOTE
  • Embargoed: 2nd August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4YA6X3D8CPKQWJ4T1ZZOEHYTA
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: At least two people were killed and more than 20 injured in a stampede as security forces struggled to control a crowd of over a million Hindu devotees gathered for the annual chariot festival in the eastern Indian coastal town of Puri on Saturday (July 18).
    Both of the dead were women. The injured were taken to local hospitals and those in a serious condition were taken to a medical college in the city of Cuttack, about 80 kilometres from Puri.
    Nearly two million devotees streamed into Puri for the annual festival of Hindu god Jagannath with at least one million congregating on the main road leading to the Jagannath temple.
    The festival has been celebrated for the last 1,000 years. Devotees traditionally pull three giant chariots, nearly 45 feet high, with thick ropes amid frenzied chanting of hymns.
    It commemorates Lord Krishna's return to his home in Vrindavan, after a long period. The English word "juggernaut" is derived from Jagannath's chariot.
    According to Hindu believers, Lord Jagannath is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Preserver, one of the trinity of the Hindu pantheon. The other two are Brahma, the Creator and Shiva, the Destroyer.
    Twenty-seven people were killed and 40 injured earlier this week in a stampede in the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh as crowds surged to bathe in the Godavari River on the first day of a religious festival held once every 144 years.
    Stampedes are not uncommon at India's large religious festivals, where crowds routinely number in the tens of millions. In 2013, 36 pilgrims were killed during a stampede at a train station during a festival in northern India.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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