Kollam, Apr 10: In a huge tragedy, 106 people were killed and over 280 injured in a major fire that broke out in Puttingal Devi Temple complex near here in Kerala today during a display of fireworks for which there was no permission from the authorities.
Thousands of people had gathered at the temple precincts to witness the display of fireworks which was underway since midnight when the blaze erupted at around 3.30 AM, police said.
The mishap occurred as sparks of the fireworks fell on the store room 'Kambapura' and the fire crackers kept there exploded with a deafening noise, police said.
The sound of the explosion could be heard over a radius of one kilometer and the whole area plunged into darkness as the power supply went off and people ran helter skelter, eyewitnesses said.
In the huge blaze, 102 people perished and 280 were injured, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters. A massive effort was launched to rescue the people from the inferno and shift the injured people to hospitals, with the Navy and the Air Force pressing into service six helicopters and one Dornier aircraft.
The Chief Minister said the District Collector of Kollam had not given permission to conduct the fireworks. The District Collector A Shainamol said "no permission for any kind of fireworks" was given.
She said the temple authorities had asked for permission to conduct competitive fireworks which was denied. For normal fireworks, no permission was sought and hence there was no question of granting it, the DC said.
Police sources said a case has been registered against temple authorities and explosive licencees under section 307 (Attempt to murder), and 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) of IPC and under section 4 of Explosives Substances Act.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who termed the incident as "heart-rending" and "shocking", announced Rs two lakh each as compensation for the next of the kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.
He rushed to Kerala to take stock of the situation, carrying along with him a team of burn specialist doctors.
"It has been confirmed that 102 people were killed and 280 injured and admitted to various hospitals. Now our focus is to provide the best treatment to the injured," said Chandy, who visited the accident site and the injured at various hospitals in this city.
"The condition of some of the injured is stated to be very serious and the injured have been admitted to various hospitals in and around Kollam and in Thiruvananthapuram," the Kerala Chief Minister said. He said the injured would be shifted to whichever hospitals their relatives wanted to be taken to ensure the best treatment. "The government will take care of all the medical expenses," he said.
Chandy said the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had called him to express their grief over the tragedy and the central government has promised all help.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is also travelling to the accident site. Over 250 injured have been brought to the Trivandrum Medical college hopsital, Kollam district hospital and various private hospitals in kollam.
Trivandrum medical college hospital sources said 112 injured persons have been brought to the hospital so far and 13 of them had been broght dead. "Fire at temple in Kollam is heart-rending & shocking beyond words. My thoughts are with families of the deceased & prayers with the injured," the Prime Minister said in a tweet earlier.
"Spoke to CM Oommen Chandy about the fire at a temple in Kollam. Arranging for immediate shifting of those critically injured via helicopter," he tweeted in the morning.
The PMO said Modi was constantly monitoring the situation and was in touch with officials. He had directed that no protocol formalities be observed on his arrival in Kerala as focus should remain on relief and rescue operations in Kollam. Modi said he had also asked Health Minister J P Nadda to immediately reach the site of the fire tragedy in Kollam.
BJP National President Amit Shah cancelled all his public functions in Kerala today and has rushed to the Trivandrum Medical college to visit the injured patients. Chandy, who visited the mishap site, said 56 of the dead have been identified and the process to identify others is in progress.
He said post-mortem will be carried out expeditiously so that the bodies are handed over to their kin at the earliest. Asked whether any action will be taken against temple authorities for conducting the display of fireworks since the authorities had denied permission for it, the Chief Minister said a decision regarding this will be taken at a Cabinet meeting to be held shortly.
He said the personnel of police, fire and disaster departments had done a commendable job in the wake of the tragedy. With regard to medical aid, Chandy said the Central government has offered any kind of assistance "but at the moment we are self-sufficient".
He said sufficient medical facilities are available in the state and "we are going to provide the best medical care".
Also Read:
Temple tragedy: Tremors felt a km away; charred bodies all over
Temple tragedy: Karnataka sends doctors, plastic surgeons to Kerala
Comments
Really very sad. Life is very precious. FIRE itself is a danger. So need precaution to such incidents in future. Everyone who lost their beloved ones would feel to ban the fireworks in any event of celebration.
O people, Worship the creator, not the creation.
Rss is behind this incident to divide muslims and hindu votes to rule kerala.
May Allah give sabr to the deceased family who lost their dear ones. if it was happened nearby masjid, definitely the story would have been different as per the media..
Its sad news.. we condole, but we need to open up and convey the TRUTH.
When somebody at the moment of tragedy calling Oh God!
it means YOU are calling the God who created all that exists...
It is not manmade so called gods
it is not a statue - stone
it is not an idol - stone
it is not a picture - life less
it is not an animal - Human is more intellect than animal.. animal doesnt worship human
it is not a created things.. Man made creation
Recognize the TRUE GOD and Worship him alone not created things.
God doesnt want people to waste their money by FIRING...
Why dont YOU think ... its man made ritual to burn fire cracker & waste money & KEEP US away from TRUE GOD..
if people heedlessly continue without learning about GOD who created U & ME and all that exists , I fear WE will face such tragedy in future, Just like elephant festival which kills human in every festival .... May God give us all, about his UNDERSTANDING to those who LOOK for his message.
ISLAM says ALLAH is the creator of all that exists.. there is no different religion. but only one. People deviated from one religion and started worshiping created things.... When ALLAH says in QURAN... He is the CREATOR ... Y dont my Brothers and sisters look what he says....
People accept what is said in the media... without VERIFYING.
I request YOU to Research, Investigation, learn and study the QURAN BEFORE ACCEPTING what is said in the QURAN... Dont follow blindly like other religious scriptures...
WORSHIP THE CREATOR NOT HIS CREATION
Innalillahi vainna ilaihi raajivoo...
Its a bad news....this shows carelessness of temple managing committee not abiding the international safety standard....tragic death could have been avoided....if they had spent a little money on safety...committee's main aim is to make money from devotees and ...not spending any money on their safety...their members should be arrested and put behind bar forever....
We Indians always compromise on safety and quality. This is one example. Also in roads most of us never follow rules eg.. not wearing helmet/seat belts, jumping the signals, over speed, public crossing the roads wherever they want etc. No point of blaming government .Unless each individual realise the importance of safety and act accordingly these kind of incidents will continue. Feel sorry for the victims.
Very Sad news.
This is the entry of BJP........!
It is the most sad day,for such a beautiful Paravur and its people have to undergo a tragedy that is so painful.
Very sad disastrous,god bless victims
A comprehensive probe will be conducted into the incident. _>> Reactive approach. Proactive - Govt. would have ensured, all fire regulations are followed. Why elect such poor leaders, who are unfit to serve voters. Now a probe, that will go on for decades ... Change leaders, find nothing but the best talent. Every tomDick&Harry wants to be a leader, be it a cop, a babu, now a chia wala from UP, film actors, cricket players .. are these the best talent that voters / parties can find, out of over a billion people? and then so many criminally charged are elected ....That is a shame,
india just survive between one tragedy to other...
so many faults that this country and even god can't understand how this country is still surviving
Our general safety standards for fireworks is woefully low. Anyone who can light a fire becomes a fireworks expert. These fireworks look colorful, but has dangerous and hazardous chemicals which if not in properly accredited fireworks experts can go wrong. Hope we learn and reduce such fireworks which not only pollutes the air but causes such destruction. The fireworks should be held only in stadiums with adequate supervision and fire engines placed for quick reaction in case of accidents.
It is the biggest problem of Indian constitutional system and its governments giving equal rights and allowing everyone to the temple.
if government of India needs abundant money than its capacity from other religious fundamentalists nation for its own growth, how would it save Hindu temples at Indian and around world?. This is another example for Modi government to introspect.
Very sorry to hear the human tragedy ! How pity we NEVER realise that overcrowding fire work displays are dangerous ! time we understood God is right in us and next to us and so why search him in crowded n potentially risky places ? SAD event !
Very Sad to here. YA ALHAH Save brothers,sisters,children's and all humankind from this kind of accidents.
RIP Very sad , man made tragedy BUT fate is sealed.... crackers and colored water will take more lives...... Even the educated do not understand the dangers involved in crackers and colored water.....
Very sorry to hear the human tragedy ! How pity we NEVER realise that overcrowding fire work displays are dangerous ! time we understood God is right in us and next to us and so why search him in crowded n potentially risky places ? SAD event !
Another tragedy - utter carelessness - nobody responsible.. A few days of outrage, then back to \normal\".. This is India sir -- nothing will change."
Very unfortunate happening. Oh! God!
Very unfortunate and an avoidable accident.
very sad, RIP to those who killed in mishap.
In several Malayalam films mishaps owing to fire works are being shown from time to time. People are not learning unfortunately.
Firecrackers became part of Diwali only in the 40s and 50s. Firecrackers were not a part of Diwali before The Indian Explosives Act, 1940 licensed firecracker manufacturing. Gunpowder itself is a chinese invention.
There is nothing \hindu tradition\" about firecrackers or their bursting during diwali. You are just an ignoramus, like all religious fanatics. Your comment reminds me of the study of the five monkeys and the ladder, where monkeys were conditioned to follow a tradition without knowing why!"
cackers doesn't have a religion..blanket ban should be imposed.... life is too large a price for crackers ..go play some video games or rather watch luv kush cartoon to celebrate ram :p
Ban the crackers once and for all..other than killing and pollution, do they do anything good?
WHERE EVER GODHRA MODI AND HIS PUPPY AMIT SHAH GOES ITS DEATH DESTRUCTION AND KILLING, MODI IS BAD OMEN,,
i share the grief of the people affected by tragedy at the same time a bit of a shock that the prime minister wants to visit kerala soon!!!! well he has time for kerala and earlier to visit kolkata where the bridge has collapsed and taking mileage out of it !!!! but at the same time he has no time to visit the people of ten states who are suffering with acute water shortage nor a word has been expressed from his side!!!!!!!! do we call it a selfish approach?
What a horrible situation. People went there to enjoy it, but unfortunately met with a tragic accident.
whats the govt got to do here ? norms are already there. its upto people to follow them ... temple is private, atleast thats how most temples are run. put the priests in jail
Safety Standards are so low and compromised here as life is very cheap, Will Govt wake up and enforce some strict safety norms. All we see is Govt staff are prompt in collecting their hafthas and not bothered to check compliance etc.
Poor victims...really heartbreaking situation.
Don't know why these deadly games are part of worship. Created accidents.
Anyhow PM Modi is visiting the place to market at least one seat for BJP. Good luck sir....
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