Fireworks Accident at Kerala Temple Festival Injures Many
A fireworks accident during a temple festival in Kasaragod, Kerala, injured over 150 people, including 10 seriously.
Local officials said the shed with the fireworks was too close to where the fireworks were being lit.
At a temple in the Kasaragod district of Kerala, a fireworks accident late last night left over 150 people hurt, 10 of them critically. Startling images taken on the scene showed crackers starting a huge fire and a smoke cloud while everyone gathered on the temple grounds fled for their lives.
The tragedy happened in the north Malabar region in Anjootambalam Veerekavu during the celebration at the start of the holiday season.
A firecracker display was going on at around midnight, according to witnesses, and it's possible that one of the crackers fell into the adjoining shed where additional crackers were kept. As the shed burst into enormous flames and smoke, footage showed the throng in shock.
For the event, Priyesh and his cousins were at the temple. "A deafening blast preceded the sight of a ball of flames. Panic soon set in. There was a huge audience. There were a lot of people standing on the shed's side, and because of the crowd, they were unable to move freely. He reportedly stated, "We started rushing people to nearby hospitals immediately," according to a report by Manorama Online.
To attend the celebration, Sreerag, who is connected to the temple, travelled from Bengaluru. He heard the explosion as he was directing the crowd. "On the second day of the festival, a large audience is typically anticipated. The turnout on Monday night was exceptionally large.
"In the shed, Chinese crackers were kept. He suggested that the crackers might have been ignited by a flower cracker spark that fell into the shed.
The storeroom was close to the location where crackers were exploded, according to several locals who spoke to Manorama. Panchayat officials have attributed it to a lack of vigilance. "Crackers don't explode here too often. It is a minor occurrence. However, Manorama Online claimed that local ward member E Shajeer stated that greater attention should have been used with regard to the distance between the shed and the location where crackers were exploded.
Crackers must have been stored at least 100 meters away from the point of explosion, according to Kasaragod collector Inbasekar K.
Two members of the temple committee have been arrested by the police.Eight temple committee members are facing legal action for planning the fireworks display without authorisation and in violation of rules. The pyrotechnics storage facility caught fire as a result of the negligent display, according to the FIR.
