6 Killed in Stampede at Jagannath Rath Yatra Festival - India

Photos and more info:
http://www.stormchaser.ca

During my trip to India (June 2008) to explore the monsoon season I took a side venture to the town of Puri which is the site of the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra festival. The huge crowd was made up of about 500,000 Hindu devotees and believe it or not, this is half the number of previous years. Many people were unable to reach Puri due to washed out railway tracks as a result of the monsoon rains. Despite the lower numbers than usual, this year's celebration took a tragic turn when 6 people were killed during a stampede in the crowd. I was up above on a rooftop, watching the entire event unfold.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Jagannath
• Rath
• Yatra
• Festival
• Stampede
• India
• Hindu
• George
• Kourounis
• Angry
• Planet
• Monsoon

[devotoskrisna]

que hermosura ese festival me encanto, los que se tuvieron que llevar en camillas realmente lo siento pero fue su karma y el señor jagannatha se encargo de que se fueran y no lo vieran en su explendida carrosa,ademas el toro es uno de los miles que hay en la localidad de jagannatha puri,bien por el pues el alcanso a pasar al frente de la carroza! jagannatha swami!

[vegaschild]

I was there in '99, I managed to get from that vantage point, to inside the cordon at street level and back again. What a ride! Look up Rath Yatra 1999 here on youtube for the same thing but up close and personal.

[sunnygirlannie]

PS. Thank you for sharing the video I had never heard of this celebration before.

[sunnygirlannie]

I felt bad for the bull can you imagine what that poor animal must have been going through being surrounded by that many people?

[Michael2987]

i dont get it why the fight over the ropes lol

[TheWorseOne]

Crazy! A crowd of this size would never work in the US, Americans are too aggressive.

[brandyn420420]

i dont think it would matter if we blew this place up... would it be honest with yourself now they are doing more harm then good just look at those hobo feet

[pelonbombero]

WOW you did a GREAT job filming that! INSANE!!

[trje246]

stop breeding

[robertgift]

Excellent photography!

No stampede seen.

Appears people who fainted/heat exhaustion were carried to ambulances.