Over 150 injured in fireworks accident at Kerala temple

PTI Kasaragod (Kerala): A fire accident during a Theyyam performance at a temple near Neeleswaram late last night left 150 people injured, 10 of them seriously, when firecrackers stored in the vicinity exploded, police said on Tuesday. While police said that the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained, eyewitnesses said sparks from firecrackers fell on the rest of the stocks stored nearby, leading to an explosion that scared away the people watching the Theyyam performance. The incident happened at Veerarkavu Temple near Neeleswaram in this northernmost district of Kerala, police said. Nileswaram police have registered a case into the firework accident under the Explosive Substance Act and various sections of the BNS. "A case was registered into the incident, and eight persons are booked. All those booked are temple committee members," a senior police officer told PTI.

It was suspected that the firecrackers were burst without complying with safety norms and guidelines, he said. Hundreds of people, including women and children, had gathered to have a glimpse of the Theyyam at the shrine. Theyyam is a centuries-old ritualistic performance held at temples and 'kavus' (sacred groves) in the Malabar (north Kerala) region of Kerala. Mobile phone footage, broadcast by television channels, showed hapless people getting scattered and running in panic after a thundering explosion and a ball of fire happened on one of the premises of the shrine. The incident was suspected to have happened after the fire crackers stored in a shed in the temple premises caught fire accidently, eyewitnesses said. According to police, over 150 people sustained serious and minor injuries in the accident, and at least 108 persons were seeking treatment in various hospitals in Kasaragod, Kannur, and Kozhikode districts and in Mangalore in neighbouring Karnataka, police said.

The District Collector said on Tuesday that those who were seriously injured had 80 per cent burns. "The cause of the accident is being ascertained. Samples have been collected from the site," he said. He further said that according to a preliminary probe, the fireworks storage facility and the place where the crackers were being burst were close by. "The safety precautions were not taken. The reuireent of maintaining a minimum distance of 100 meters between the two was not followed. ," he added.