6 schoolgirls faint inside Puri temple

Six girls from Mayurbhanj district in Odisha fainted and were taken to the Puri district headquarters hospital on Monday evening after they had gone to the Jagannath temple to take part in the 25th foundation day celebrations. The girls are all in class IX and were part of a group of students from Mayurbhanj who had come to Puri to take part in the celebrations. The police have denied allegations of a stampede-like situation in the temple, though poor crowd management has drawn criticism. The Puri police statement says that a group of 70-odd school students from Mayurbhanj were made to walk a long distance to reach the temple, and most of them were hungry and fainted inside the temple. The police have ordered an inquiry and asked the city DSP to find out as to why the children were made to walk such a long distance.