Live: 5 detained for Kollam temple fire tragedy in Kerala, death toll climbs to 112

Yechury meets injured

Sitharam Yechury met the injured and the families of the deceased and said that the state government should provide employment to the injured and the kin of the deceased.

“Monetary compensation is not enough. The state government should announce employment for the kin of victims so that they have some future,” Yechury told reporters after meeting the victims.

“The guilty should be punished,” he added. “The Prime Minister was here. I chose not to come here yesterday because the priority of the administration should be to provide relief. When that was over, I decided to come here,” he said.

Yechury also said that this disaster “definitely merits to be considered a national calamity.”

‘It is correct that we denied permission for fireworks display’

Seven-member team inspects Kollam fire tragedy site

According to ANI, a seven-member team led by Chief Controller Explosives Sudarshan Kamal inspected the tragedy site.

Families struggle to find their loved ones

After scouring six hospitals and three morgues, NP Anoop is no closer to finding his father who was caught in a massive blast and fire at an Indian temple that claimed more than 100 lives.

Like thousands of others, his father had gone on Saturday night to the Hindu temple in southern Kerala state, renowned for its beaches and tranquil backwaters, to see the annual fireworks display.

But in the chaotic hours after the explosion that ripped through the Puttingal Devi complex, the increasingly desperate 32-year-old could find no trace of his father, Vishwanathan, and feared the worst. 

“I don’t know if he is alive or dead. All I want is to see him, we are ready for the worst but this search is painful,” he told AFP after questioning ICU staff at a medical college hospital in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

“My father had gone to the festival with his friend. We were able to find the body of his friend but have yet to get any information on my father,” the weary-looking Anoop said, before heading off to yet another hospital.

At hospitals, morgues and police stations, families are involved in a heartwrenching search for loved ones feared swept up in the blast that tore apart concrete buildings.

But the task is being made more difficult by the fact that some of the more than 100 people killed are unrecognisable. – AFP

Detained organisers questioned by police

TV news reports said that the five organisers who had been detained by the police are now being questioned by them.

A case has been registered against 30 people, including the Puttingal temple board members, according to NDTV.

Fire and rescue teams inspect tragedy site

ANI reports that fire and rescue teams are now inspecting the site of the tragedy which killed 112 people.

Officials who had opposed the Kollam fireworks display were bullied

According to this report in Indian Express , Additional District Magistrate A Shanavas and District Collector A Shainamol, who were two of the officials who had denied permission for the fireworks display, were bullied and threatened by local politicians and Hindu groups.

What is worse is that communal slurs were used against the two officials, who are Muslims.

“Once the order was issued, it was vetted by Collector Shainamol, so the pressure started mounting on her. A senior minister called her to demand a change in her stand and asked whether she really wanted to upset religious sentiments of a section to which she does not belong. Local Hindu groups also used it against the ruling party, and eventually, police and politicians decided to make the fireworks happen despite a ban,” the report quoted an officer as saying.

Death toll climbs to 112

According to The Times of India , the death toll has now risen to 112. The report further said that nearly 400 other people had been injured.

Police inspecting tragedy site

Puttingal Devi temple fire tragedy was the worst such tragedy in Kerala in the last 50 years

The Puttingal Devi temple fire mishap is one of the worst such tragedies witnessed by Kerala, where display of fireworks are an integral part of religious and cultural festivals.

Though cracker blasts, especially during religious festivals, are not new in the state, Sunday’s tragedy is the worst in over last 50 years of the state’s history.

The cracker blast at the premises of Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple in 1952 had claimed at least 68 lives.

As many as 20 people had been killed in another cracker blast during a church festival in Thrissur district in 1984 and 26 people had died during a blast in the storehouse of crackers at a temple in Malanada in Kollam in 1990.

A cracker, which accidentally fell on spectators, claimed six lives in Thrissur in 1978.

Seven people had been killed during another explosion at the storehouse where firecrackers had been kept for the famous Thrissur Pooram festival in 2006. – PTI

Five temple organisers detained

According to CNN-IBN, five organisers of the fireworks display competition at the temple were detained by the police.

(Updates begin for 11 April)

PM Modi addressed the media

After having reached the Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) Medical college with his team of doctors and taking stock of the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the media. He said " I am very sadden by the incident. My sympathies are with the families of the deceased, my prayers with the injured" 

He further added " The Indian government is with Kerala and the families in such times and will assist anyone who wants to be shifted to Mumbai or Delhi for any kind of treatment." 

Speaking about the impact of the explosion, he said that people as far as 200 meters from the site were injured.

WATCH: PM Narendra Modi’s message in Kerala after meeting victims of #Kollam temple tragedy https://t.co/JifoXJh7FP

— ANI (@ANI_news) April 10, 2016

One booked for storing fire crackers 10 times more than permitted limit 

According to PTI, Attingal police said they have registered a case against the licensee, Surendran, who had stored about 150 kgs o crackers and fireworks material at the storehouse without valid permission.

Surendran had license to store only about 15 kg, police said “It is a clear violation of license. So far no arrest have been made,” police told PTI – PTI

Rahul Gandhi arrives in Kollam to take stock of the situation 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived at Kollam Hospital with a team of doctors. According to CNN IBN, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennitala said that the responsibility for the accident cannot be pinned on anybody without a juducial probe.  

PM Modi reaches the Puttingal temple tragedy site 

PM Modi reaches the Puttingal temple tragedy site 

Kerala government announces Rs. 10 lakh compensation for families of dead  

According to an IANS report the Kerala government on Sunday ordered a judicial probe into a temple fire tragedy here and announced Rs.10 lakh compensation to families of each of the dead. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy announced after a special cabinet meeting here that the Crime Branch of Kerala Police would also investigate the disaster at the Puttingal Devi temple in Peravur town. 

He announced a compensation of Rs.10 lakh each to the families of the dead, Rs.2 lakh to those seriously injured and Rs.50,000 to those who have suffered minor injuries.The state government will bear the expenses of medical treatment of the injured, he said.

Chandy was asked if there should a ban on festivities associated with religious institutions, to which he said " Many see these events emotionally as it is part of their culture and traditions. I don’t think a ban is a practical way out. Instead, the best way is to bring about very strict guidelines and control events like this to see that safety is not compromised."

Meanwhile, police took into custody five staff members of the contractor Surendran and his son Umesh who were responsible for the fireworks display.
Surendran and Umesh are both admitted in the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. Surendran is in serious condition while Umesh has suffered 50 percent burns – IANS

Probe ordered by CM Chandy 

PM Modi arrives in Kollam 

Here is a translation of the order that explicitly prohibited the use of fireworks at the temple festival

Order

In view of the situations mentioned above, based on the records available, and after considering the application from Paravaur Puttingal Devaswom Managing Committee (received on 9 April, 2016)  to conduct/perform fireworks at temple premises and based on the subsequent investigation reports on the same, we are convinced that it was not fireworks that were planned in the temple but aggressive competition and hence, hereby, issue order rejecting the application.  If this order is violated, due legal actions will be taken against the violators in accordance with the 2008 explosive Substances Act.

Additional District Magistrate 

Recipient

J Krishnankuttippilla

Secretary, Paravaur Platingal Devaswam Managing Committee 

Paravaur

Will get report of judicial probe in 6 months: Chandy

Kerala CM Oommen Chandy said that the report for the judicial probe into the Kollak tragedy will be submitted in 6 months.

Chandy on Modi’s visit

Contradictory claims emerge on the issue of permission granted for fireworks display

Conflicting versions are emerging on permission being granted for conduct of fireworks display at the 100-year-old Puttingal Devi temple complex.

While the office of Kollam District collector A Shainamol’s office told PTI that no permission was granted to conduct the fireworks display, local people claimed the ban was lifted later in the night.

They claimed a ban had been imposed on a complaint by one Pankajakshi, a resident near the temple complex against holding fireworks display.

Pankajakshi alleged that temple authorities had threatened her after the complaint was filed.

Local people in the area told PTI that late at night, the ban was lifted following a ‘mutual agreement’.

However, Kollam City Police commissioner P Prakash, said police did not given permission for the display of fireworks.

“The locals said they had received oral permission. The temple authority did not have the permission and we did not give them any permission,” he said. – PTI

PM departs for Kollam

Puttingal temple top officials have gone missing

Top officials of the Puttingal Devi temple in Kerala have reportedly gone missing after the tragedy, police sources said, reported IANS.

A case has also been registered against the father-son duo of Surendran and Umesh who had organised the fireworks display. Both are being treated at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.

Modi in Thiruvananthapuram

Ship carrying medical team arrives in Kollam

Kerala govt orders crime branch probe into Kollam tragedy

As the Kerala cabinet meeting ended, CM Oomen Chandy addressed reporters and said that the government has ordered a crime branch probe into the Kollam tragedy. “We will get into all aspects of the case,” he said.

He also said that a blanket ban on such fireworks display and festivals was not possible. “A blanket ban on such fireworks or such festivals is not possible. Stringent guidelines must be brought in and we must ensure that these stringent guidelines are followed,” said the CM.

The Kerala government has announced Rs 10 lakh will be given to the families of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh will be given to the seriously injured and Rs 50000 will be given to those with minor injuries, reported CNN-IBN.

Death toll rises to 110

According to Xinhua , the death toll in this tragedy has now climbed to 110.

Tremors caused by the explosion were felt even a kilometre away

At around 3.30 am, there was a massive explosion followed by tremors which were felt even a kilometre away from the 100-year-old Puttingal Devi temple near Kollam as a massive fire tragedy struck there.

This was the account of Girija who said such an incident had never occurred earlier.

Giving an account of her experience, Girija, whose house is situated about a kilometre away from the temple, said she felt tremors soon after a massive explosion.

Lalu, a television journalist who was watching the fireworks from the terrace of a nearby building, said the mishap occurred towards the end of the festivities.

“I saw a huge fireball and then a thundering sound. Electricity in the area went off and I heard people screaming. It was a very chilling experience,” he said.

Lalu said he immediately rushed to the spot and found about 10-15 people dead.

The concrete building in which crackers and pyrotechnic materials were stocked was completely destroyed in the explosion which was so massive that cement slabs were found even 10 metres away from the accident spot, said 63-year-old Vijayan, an eyewitness. – PTI

Emergency Kerala cabinet meet begins

According to reports, the Kerala cabinet meeting on the Puttingal temple fire tragedy has begun.

Kerala cabinet meet begins

According to reports, the Kerala cabinet meeting on the Puttingal temple fire tragedy has begun.

Extremely pained over the loss of lives: Rajnath

Visuals of INS Kabra and INS Kalpeni carrying medical supplies

Very sad to hear such tragic news: Kejriwal

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