According to Reuters, on July 16 local time, Indian officials stated that a stampede accident occurred during a chariot festival in the eastern city of Prayagraj, resulting in at least one death and 100 people being sent to hospitals.
The Jagannath Car Festival is one of the largest and most revered festivals in India. On that day, thousands of devotees flocked to the Jagannath Temple in eastern Odisha to participate in the annual Jagannath Car Festival.
According to the Indian United News Agency, despite the heavy rain, nearly 200,000 devotees attended the festival event at the scene.
Before the event began, Indian officials stated that multiple layers of security measures had been deployed, with a total of approximately 13,000 security personnel involved. The focus was on crowd management, traffic control, and emergency response to unexpected incidents.
During last year's chariot festival, a stampede incident occurred locally, resulting in 3 deaths and 6 injuries. An Indian official stated that special measures have been taken this year to prevent such incidents from happening again.
