By Sharat Jaisingh in Puri, July 18, 2015 : The much hyped Nabakalenar Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath at Puri began on Saturday with three people including two women reported dead due to asphyxiation and at least ten injured. 

Some reports attributed the death due to stampede during the movement of Balabhadra’s chariot, but police denied it. DGP Sanjiv Marik told media, “We came to know from hospital sources that one woman, about 65 years old, was killed while some have sustained serious injuries.”

Quoting hospital sources, Marik said the woman died due to exhaustion, not because of any stampede.

The police chief said, in another mishap, five persons watching the festival on top of the roof of a house fell on ground and sustained injuries.

Two critically injured were taken to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, while the others were taken to a hospital in Puri, he added.

However, one persons was found dead due to suffocation and another women died during the melee following sudden rush of crowd at the main entrance to Puri, eyewitness accounts said.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik expressed grief over the mishap and announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the nearest kin of the deceased each. He also declared that medical expenses of the injured will be borne by the State government.

Union Tourism minister Mahesh Sharma, and State Congress president Prasad Harichandan also expressed grief over the accident.

BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra criticized the state government for its failure to ensure incident free Rath Yatra.

Social activist, P Krishna Patra blamed traffic mismanagement for the sad death of three persons during the festival.

One person was also found dead and several injured while taking bath at the sea.