More than 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 spot showed crackers triggering a massive fire and a cloud of smoke as people gathered on the temple premises ran to safety.
The incident occurred at Anjootambalam Veererkavu during the celebration of the beginning of the festive season in the north Malabar region.
Eyewitnesses have said that a firecrackers display was on around midnight, and one of the crackers may have fallen into the nearby shed where more crackers were stored. Visuals showed people in the crowd shocked as the shed erupted into massive flames and smoke.
Priyesh was at the temple with his cousins for the festival. “It started with a loud blast, and then we saw a ball of fire. Soon, there was panic. There was so much crowd. Many people were standing by the side of the shed and since there were too many people, they couldn’t move around freely. We immediately started rushing people to nearby hospitals,” he said, according to a Manorama Online report.
Sreerag, associated with the temple, came from Bengaluru to attend the festival. He was managing the crowd when he heard the explosion. “Usually we expect a big crowd on the festival’s second day. On Monday night, the crowd was unusually high.”
“Chinese crackers were stored in the shed. A spark from a flower cracker may have fallen into the shed, igniting the crackers,” he said.
Several local residents have told Manorama that the storehouse was near the place where crackers were burst. Panchayat representatives have blamed a lack of vigil. “Crackers are not burst on a large scale here. It is a small event. However, there should have been more precaution regarding the distance between the shed and the place where crackers were burst,” local ward member E Shajeer said, Manorama Online reported.
Kasaragod collector Inbasekar K said crackers should be stored at least 100 m from where crackers burst but here the distance was only a few feet away.
The president and secretary of the temple committee have been taken into police custody.
The temple authorities have said they had stored low-intensity firecrackers worth about Rs 28,000 in a temporary store covered by a tin shed. This cache exploded, leading to the tragedy.