In a tragic incident more than 150 people were injured in a fireworks accident at a temple in Kerala’s Kasaragod district last night. The incident occurred where hundreds of people were watching the Theyyam ritual at the Anjuambalam Veerarkav Temple festival near Neeleswaram
The shocking visuals from the spot shows crackers sparking massive fire and thick smoke as people gathered on the temple premises. People were seen dispersing, shouting and running round. Many of the survivors reportedly said they were yet to recover from the shock and said they still are not clear what happened.
As reported by the Indian Express an eyewitness said, “We were watching Theyyam. Suddenly we heard a huge sound of explosion and fire at some distance. Luckily, we could move to a safer place,”
Everything was over within seconds. Several people suffered injuries in the stampede after the tragedy, said another eyewitness.
“A large number of people were present near the shed. It was really difficult for them to run away to safety when the explosion happened,” said another eyewitness.
A spectator said that a spark from a cracker burst might have fallen into the shed and ignited the heaps of crackers stored there.
“Chinese crackers were stored in the shed. A spark from a flower cracker may have fallen into the shed, igniting the crackers,” he said.
Meanwhile, local ward member E Shajeer said, Manorama Online reported, “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,”
150 Injured including 10 Critical Injuries
As per the reports, over 150 people were injured, including ten in serious condition, in the fireworks accident during a temple festival near Neeleswaram here late Monday, police said.
The injured have been repoprtedly taken in various hospitals in Kasargod, Kannur and Mangaluru.
As reported by The Indian Express, the District Collector, on Tuesday, said that the serverly injured patients have 80 per cent burns. A case has been registered and samples have been collected from the site.
Accroding to a preliminary probe, the fireworks storage facility and the place where the crackers were being burst were close by, he added.
“The safety precautions were not taken. The requirement of maintaining a minimum distance of 100 meters between the two was not followed. No permission was taken either for storage of fireworks,” he added.
