Idol of Lord Balabhadra falls on servitors during Rath Yatra ritual in Puri, nine injured
Bhubaneswar, Jul 9: At least nine servitors of the Puri Jagannath temple were injured on Tuesday when the idol of Lord Balabhadra fell on them while it was being taken out from the chariot to a temple as part of the Rath Yatra festival, an official said.
Of the nine, five were admitted to a hospital while four others suffered minor injuries, Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said.
The mishap happened when the heavy wooden idol was being brought down from Lord Balabhadra's chariot to be taken to the Gundicha temple.
This is known as 'Pahandi' ritual. It appears that those who were carrying the idol lost control of it.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed concern about the incident and directed Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan to visit Puri immediately and take appropriate steps.
The Puri Jagannath temple is under the state government's law department.
The chief minister wished for speedy recovery of the injured servitors.
The ritual of the sibling deities - Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra - resumed soon after the mishap and all the idols were taken inside the Gundicha temple.
They will remain in the Gundicha Temple till ‘Bahuda Jatra' or the return car festival on July 15.
Lord Balabhadra's Idol Falls On People During Puri Rath Yatra, 9 Injured.#Odisha #puri #RathaYatra pic.twitter.com/xEc5M1Wcnf
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
