As tens of thousands gathered in the Indian coastal town of Puri for the grand Rath Yatra festival on Sunday (June 29), tragedy struck. According to a senior government official, a sudden crowd surge of Hindu devotees at around 4.30am local time has left three people dead, including two women, and over a dozen injured. 

“There was a sudden crowd surge of devotees for having a glimpse of the Hindu deities during which few people either fainted, felt suffocated or complained of breathlessness,” said Siddharth Shankar Swain, the top government official in Puri. He told AP that 15 people were rushed to a local government hospital, where three people were pronounced dead and the other 12 were discharged. Autopsies are planned for the deceased to determine the exact cause of death. 

Devotees gathered in Puri early on Sunday at Shree Gundicha Temple near the famous Jagannatha Temple to catch a glimpse of the deities. The grand “Rath Yatra,” or chariot festival, sees the coastal temple town come alive each year in one of the world’s oldest and largest religious processions.

The centuries-old festival involves Hindu deities being taken out of the temple and driven in colourfully decorated chariots. It is one of Hinduism’s most revered events and draws hundreds of thousands of people annually from across India and beyond.

According to local media, the police’s arrangement for crowd control at the spot was inadequate. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi has taken responsibility for the stampede and termed it a result of “unforgivable negligence”. He has told authorities to take exemplary action against those responsible, reported NDTV. 

The tragedy in Puri comes barely two weeks after the horrific Air India crash, which killed 260 people when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner slammed into a medical college shortly after takeoff on June 12. Another 19 were killed on the ground in Ahmedabad. Vishwashkumar Ramesh was the sole survivor of the crash and managed to escape the wreckage through an opening in the fuselage. Mr Ramesh, 40, was in seat 11A on the Gatwick-bound flight. 

The flight reached just 625 feet before crashing 33 seconds after takeoff. Both engines appeared to have lost power, an incredibly rare occurrence that experts have described as a “one in a billion event”.

Investigators are now probing whether the Air India crash was caused by sabotage.

“The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has begun a full investigation. It is being probed from all angles, including any possible sabotage,” said India’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol. Although there has previously been speculation of potential sabotage, this is the first time officials have formally acknowledged it as a possible cause of the crash.