3 die in cracker blast at Puri Chandan Yatra

Puri: At least three persons, including a minor, died and 32 others were injured after a stockpile of firecrackers exploded during Lord Jagannath's Chandan Yatra festival in Puri, police said on Thursday.

There was a display of fireworks on the concluding day of the 21-day Chandan Yatra when one cracker missed the direction and landed on the pile of firecrackers, causing a huge explosion in the area.

Hundreds of people had gathered on the banks of Narendra Pushkarinee, a water body, to witness the rituals when the crackers exploded on Wednesday night.

The injured were rushed to Puri district headquarters hospital from where some were shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack and private hospitals in Bhubaneswar.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited a private hospital here on Thursday to meet the injured persons. Naveen talked to doctors of the health facility and enquired about the condition of the patients.