3 killed and a dozen others hospitalized after crowd surge at eastern India Hindu festival
NEW DELHI — Three people were killed and more than a dozen hospitalized Sunday following a sudden crowd surge and stampede at a popular Hindu festival in eastern India, local authorities said.
'There was a sudden crowd surge of devotees for having a glimpse of the Hindu deities during which a few people either fainted, felt suffocated or complained of breathlessness,' said Siddharth Shankar Swain, the top government official in Puri.
Swain told The Associated Press that 15 people were rushed to a local government hospital, where three people were pronounced dead. Autopsies are planned to determine the exact causes of death. The other 12 people have been discharged.
Tens of thousands of devotees gathered in the coastal town early Sunday at Shree Gundicha Temple, near the famous Jagannatha Temple, to catch a glimpse of the deities onboard three chariots, Swain said.
The coastal temple town of Puri comes alive each year with the grand 'Rath Yatra,' or chariot festival, 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 colorfully decorated chariots.
The festival is one of Hinduism's most revered events and draws hundreds of thousands of devotees annually from across India and the world.
Naveen Patnaik, a former top elected official of Odisha state where Puri is located, said in a social media post that 'no government machinery (was) present to manage the surging crowds, highlighting a shocking lapse in duty.'
'While I refrain from accusing the government of criminal negligence, their blatant callousness has undeniably contributed to this tragedy,' he said.
Patnaik called the incident a 'stampede' that 'exposes the government's glaring incompetence in ensuring a peaceful festival for devotees.'
In a social media post, Mohan Charan Majhi, the top elected official of Odisha, apologized for the incident, saying it occurred 'due to stampede among devotees' amid excitement to have a glimpse of the deities.
Majhi said the security negligence will be investigated immediately.
'This negligence is inexcusable,' he said, adding that concrete action will be taken against the persons involved.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Dalai Lama set to reveal succession plan as China watches
By Krishna N. Das DHARAMSHALA, India (Reuters) -The Dalai Lama will address a major three-day gathering of Buddhist religious figures this week ahead of his 90th birthday, as his followers wait for the Tibetan spiritual leader to share details about his succession in a move that could irk China. Beijing views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a separatist and says it will choose his successor. The Dalai Lama has said his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing. Tibetan Buddhists hold that enlightened monks are reborn to carry forward their spiritual legacy. The 14th Dalai Lama will turn 90 on Sunday and has said he would consult senior monks and others at this time to share possible clues on where his successor, a boy or a girl, could be found following his death. "The rest of my life I will dedicate for the benefit of others, as much as possible, as extensive as possible," the Dalai Lama told a gathering of his followers on Monday as they offered prayers for his long life. "There will be some kind of a framework within which we can talk about the continuation of the institution of the Dalai Lamas," he said, without elaborating on the framework. He has previously said he could possibly reincarnate in India, where he lives in exile near the northern Himalayan town of Dharamshala. He was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two. Dolma Tsering Teykhang, the deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in Dharamshala, said it was important for the world to hear directly from the Dalai Lama on the issue because while China "tries to vilify him at every chance ... it is trying to frame rules and regulations on how to have the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in their hand". "China is trying to grab this institution ... for its political purpose," she said. "We want the incarnation of the Dalai Lama to be born not only for the survival of Tibet as a distinct culture, religion and nation, but also for the well-being of the whole humanity." Thupten Ngodup, Tibet's chief state oracle, said typically such discussions on the reincarnation do not take place when a monk is still alive but things are different now mainly because the "Chinese government is interfering". Beijing said in March that the Dalai Lama was a political exile who had "no right to represent the Tibetan people at all". China has said it is open to discussing his future if he recognises that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, a proposal the Tibetan government in exile has rejected. 'AS IF HE'S NOT THERE' The religious conference this week, being held for the first time since 2019, will be attended by more than 100 Tibetan Buddhist leaders and will feature a video statement from the Dalai Lama. Hollywood star Richard Gere, a long-time follower of Tibetan Buddhism, will be among those attending, organisers have said. The Dalai Lama will attend prayers called by the Tibetan government in exile on July 5 and participate in his birthday celebrations a day later, according to a schedule shared by the organisers. He will speak at the celebrations for about half an hour. India's parliamentary affairs minister, Kiren Rijiju, and some other Indian officials are expected to attend. Tibetans have been praying for his long health, especially since knee surgery in the U.S. last year, although the Dalai Lama told Reuters in December that he could live until he was 110. The previous Dalai Lama died earlier than expected at 58. The Dalai Lama and Tibetan officials say there is a system in place for the government-in-exile to continue its political work while officers of the Dalai Lama's Gaden Phodrang Foundation search and recognise the next Dalai Lama. The current Dalai Lama set up the foundation in 2015 and its senior officers include several of his aides. Teykhang and other Tibetan officials said the Dalai Lama has been preparing his people for the day when he is gone, especially through his 2011 decision to hand his political role to a democratically elected government, ending a 368-year-old tradition of being both spiritual and temporal head of Tibetans. "Since he has come in the form of a human, we have to agree that there will be a moment when he is not with us," said Teykhang. "His Holiness has really prepared us for that day, he made us act as if he's not there."
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Most Asian stocks rise as investors eye US trade talks
Asian equities mostly rose Monday following a record-breaking day on Wall Street as investors kept tabs on countries' efforts to strike trade deals with the United States before a key deadline next week. And the dollar weakened on growing expectations for more interest rate cuts, while eyes were on Donald Trump's signature tax-cutting bill -- now inching towards a Senate vote -- that some experts warn could add trillions of dollars to the national debt. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at all-time peaks Friday amid optimism governments will be able to avoid swingeing tariffs imposed by the US president in April and paused until July 9 to allow for negotiations. Officials from Japan and India have extended their stays in Washington to continue talks, raising hopes for agreements with two of the world's biggest economies. Hopes that the deadline could be extended were boosted Friday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who told Fox Business "we have countries approaching us with very good deals" but they might not all be finalised by next week. But he added: "If we can ink 10 or 12 of the important 18 -- there are another important 20 relationships -- then I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day," which falls on September 1. Trump said at the weekend that he did not expect to extend the deadline, telling the "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" show: "I don't think I'll need to". "I could, no big deal," he added in the interview that was taped Friday. Meanwhile, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Sunday that Ottawa would rescind taxes impacting US tech firms in hopes of reaching a trade agreement with Washington after Trump called off talks in retaliation for the levy. Negotiations would resume with the aim of getting a deal by July 21, Ottawa added. After Wall Street's record day, most of Asia followed suit. Tokyo extended its recent rally fuelled by tech firms, while there were also gains in Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta. But Hong Kong, Wellington and Taipei fell. There was little major reaction to data showing the contraction in Chinese factory activity eased further in June after a China-US trade truce. The dollar extended losses against its peers as traders increased bets on at least two rate cuts this year following Trump's indication he could choose a successor to Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell within months. "Markets... are already pricing not just two Fed cuts this year, but a full-blown easing cycle stretching deep into 2026," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes. "Powell may still hold the gavel, but traders are betting the next Fed chair walks, talks, and cuts like a dove in MAGA red." Senators were also debating Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill", which extends his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion and beefs up border security. The Republican president has ramped up pressure to get the package to his desk by July 4, and called out wavering lawmakers from his party. However, there are worries about the impact on the economy, with the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimating the measure would add nearly $3.3 trillion to US deficits over a decade. - Key figures at around 0230 GMT - Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.6 percent at 40,809.82 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4 percent at 24,183.73 Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,433.80 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1724 from $1.1718 on Friday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3723 from $1.3715 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.31 yen from 144.68 yen Euro/pound: UP at 85.45 pence from 85.43 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $65.18 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $67.57 per barrel New York - Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 43,819.27 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 8,798.91 (close) dan/sco Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Dalai Lama, a tireless advocate for Tibet and its people
By Krishna N. Das DHARAMSHALA, India (Reuters) -The Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, has often called himself a simple monk, but for more than 60 years armed with little more than charm and conviction, he has managed to keep the cause of his people in the international spotlight. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled into exile in India in 1959 with thousands of other Tibetans after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Since then, he has advocated for a non-violent "Middle Way" to seeking autonomy and religious freedom for Tibetan people, gaining the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. He has met with scores of world leaders, while inspiring millions with his cheerful disposition and views on life such as "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." But his popularity irks China which views him as a dangerous separatist, with one former Communist Party boss describing him as "a jackal" and having "the heart of a beast". The Dalai Lama turns 90 on Sunday, a particularly important birthday as he has flagged that he may say more about a potential successor around then. Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child upon his death. In a book, "Voices for the Voiceless", published earlier this year, he said Tibetans worldwide want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue after his death and specified that his successor would be born in the "free world", which he described as outside China. The statements were his strongest yet about the likelihood of a successor. In previous years, he has also said that his successor might be a girl and it is possible that there might be no successor at all. He has, however, stated that any successor chosen by China, which has piled pressure on foreign governments to shun him, will not be respected. FLIGHT INTO EXILE The Dalai Lama was born Lhamo Dhondup in 1935 to a family of buckwheat and barley farmers in what is now the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai. At the age of two, he was deemed by a search party to be the 14th reincarnation of Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader after identifying several of his predecessor's possessions. China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what it called "a peaceful liberation" and the teenage Dalai Lama assumed a political role shortly after, travelling to Beijing to meet Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders. Nine years later, fears that the Dalai Lama could be kidnapped fuelled a major rebellion. The subsequent crackdown by the Chinese army forced him to escape disguised as a common soldier from the palace in Lhasa where his predecessors had held absolute power. The Dalai Lama fled to India, settling in Dharamshala, a Himalayan town where he lives in a compound next to a temple ringed by green hills and snow-capped mountains. There, he opened up his government-in-exile to ordinary Tibetans with an elected parliament. Disillusioned with how little he had gained from his efforts to engage with Beijing, he announced in 1988 that he had given up on seeking full independence from China, and instead would be seeking cultural and religious autonomy within China. In 2011, the Dalai Lama announced he would relinquish his political role, handing over those responsibilities to an elected leader for the Tibetan government-in-exile. But he remains active and these days, the Dalai Lama, clad in his customary maroon and saffron robes, continues to receive a constant stream of visitors. He has had a number of health problems, including knee surgery and walks with difficulty. Despite that, he expects to live for a long time yet. "According to my dream, I may live 110 years," he told Reuters in December.
