Another official confirmed that most of the temples being old, they had come up without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the fire brigade, which validates the fire preparedness and the disaster preparedness of other structures in the city. “I know all of you in this room will join us in the sentiments”.
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About 100 people died and hundreds of others were injured in a massive fire that broke out at a temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala early Sunday where thousands had gathered to witness a fireworks display being held as a part of an annual religious festival.
Shainamol said the Kollam district authorities had refused permission to the organizers of the fireworks display and the temple to hold the show because it violated safety regulations. The fireworks display at the temple is a tradition that dates back many decades and is usually a competition between two teams.
Officials said the death toll stood at 106 with 383 people injured. Local TV channels showed footage of huge clouds of white smoke billowing from the temple, as fireworks contined to explode in the night sky.
The chief doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College in the state capital said some of those pouring into the hospital had suffered serious injuries “and many would require amputation” of limbs.
Numerous dead were charred beyond recognition and would have to be identified by DNA tests, said Kerala police chief TP Senkumar. One firework landed on a building that was storing the rest of the pyrotechnic material, triggering the explosion, he said.
Thousands of people were packed into the temple complex when a big explosion erupted around 3 a.m., officials said. In this image made from video, a flash from an explosion is seen from the ground during a fireworks show at a temple in Kollam, in the southern Indian state of Kerala, early Sunday, April 10, 2016.
“It was complete chaos”, Krishna Das, who attended the event, told the AP.
A power outage hit the complex after the first explosion, further complicating rescue efforts. People were screaming in the dark. Rescuers were sifting through the wreckage in search of survivors, while backhoes were clearing the debris and ambulances ferried the injured to nearby hospitals.
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Kerala home minister Ramesh Chennithala said firefighters and police worked through the night to douse the fire and take the injured to hospital. Chandy said the temple had gone ahead with the fireworks display despite being denied permission.
