Puri: Atleast three persons, including two women, were killed and around 50 others injured in a stampede near Shree Gundicha Temple in Odisha's Puri on Sunday during a ceremony related to the ongoing Rath Yatra festivities, officials said.

The incident took place around 4.20 am when thousands of devotees had gathered near the chariots parked in front of the temple, they said. The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, and the condition of six people is stated to be critical.

The Gundicha Temple, located around 3km from the 12th century shrine, is the aunt's house of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Subhadra and Balabhadra. During Rath Yatra, the deities visit their aunt's home, stay there for seven days, and then return to their main abode — the Jagannath Temple.

According to police, chaos ensued after two trucks carrying materials for rituals reportedly entered the crowded spot near the chariots of Lord Jagannath and his sibling deities. The deities were seated on the chariots when the stampede took place.

"Thousands of devotees had assembled outside the temple since the early hours to catch a glimpse of the deities when the ‘Pahuda' (cloth) covering the front portion of the chariots was to be removed, as part of the rituals, the officials said.

The deceased were identified as Basanti Sahu (36) from Bolagarh, and Premakant Mohanty (80) and Pravati Das (42) from Balipatna. Their bodies have been handed over to family members, and the cremation will take place at ‘Swargadwar' in Puri.

In a punitive measure following the stampede, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi ordered the transfer of District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain and SP Vineet Agrawal. Majhi also announced the suspension of two police officers – DCP Bishnu Pati and Commandant Ajay Padhi – an official release said. He ordered an administrative inquiry into the matter to be carried out under the supervision of the development commissioner. In another order, senior bureaucrat Saswata Mishra was appointed principal secretary to the CM in addition to his current responsibilities. The 1996-batch IAS officer is presently posted as principal secretary in finance department with additional charge of chairman, IDCO.

The Odisha government will provide financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased, the release added. Another notification issued by the General Administration Department stated that senior bureaucrat Aravind Agarwal has been appointed as in-charge of the overall supervision of Rath Yatra.

Earlier in a post on X, Majhi sought forgiveness from devotees of Lord Jagannath for the stampede and tendered an apology on behalf of his government for the incident.