Over 150 injured in massive firecracker accident during Kerala temple festival

Thiruvananthapuram:

Over 150 people were injured, 10 of them seriously, in a fireworks accident at a temple in Kerala's Kasaragod district late last night. Shocking visuals from the incident site showed a huge fire caused by firecrackers and a plume of smoke rising as people gathered in the temple premises ran towards safe places.

The incident took place at Anjuthambalam Veererkavu during celebrations of the beginning of the festive season in the North Malabar region.

Eyewitnesses said that a firecracker display was going on around midnight and one of the firecrackers may have fallen into a nearby shed where more firecrackers were kept. Visuals showed people in the crowd looking shocked as massive flames and smoke began to rise from the shed.

Priyesh was at the temple with his cousins ​​for the festival. “It started with a loud bang, and then we saw a ball of fire. Soon, panic broke out. There was a lot of crowd. Many people were standing at the side of the shed and since there were so many people, they could not leave. ' “We immediately started taking people to nearby hospitals so that they could move freely,” he said, according to Manorama Online.

Sriragas associated with the temple had come from Bengaluru to participate in the festival. He was managing the crowd when he heard the explosion. “Normally we expect a larger crowd on the second day of the festival. On Monday night, the crowd was unusually high.”

He said, “Chinese crackers were kept in the shed. It is possible that sparks from flower crackers may have fallen into the shed, due to which the fire crackers caught fire.”

Several local residents told Manorama that the warehouse was near the place where the firecrackers were burst. Panchayat representatives have blamed lack of monitoring. According to Manorama Online report, local ward member E Shajeer said, “Firecrackers are not burst on a large scale here. This is a small incident. However, more caution should be taken regarding the distance between the shed and the place where crackers are burst.” Should have.” ,

Kasaragod Collector Inbasekar K said that firecrackers should be kept at a distance of at least 100 meters from the place where crackers are burst, but here the distance was only a few feet.

The president and secretary of the temple committee have been taken into custody by the police.

Temple officials have said that they had stored low-intensity firecrackers worth about Rs 28,000 in a temporary store covered with a tin shed. This cache burst, causing tragedy.