Egos to blame for high death toll at Puttingal temple fire in Kollam
One of the biggest firework tragedies in India broke in the wee hours of April 10 at Puttingal temple in Paravoor of Kollam district in Kerala, killing 105 people, according to the Kerala home ministry, and injuring more than 300. The injured have been rushed to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.
On February 22, 2016, the temple Devasom Board approached the additional district magistrate seeking permission to burn fireworks in the Puttingal temple premises, but after an thorough inquiry, the temple authorities were denied permission to carry out the celebratory exhibition when it was found it was more than a show; a competition between two parties.
Only one of the two contractors, Anarkali, who had stocked fireworks, had received the permission, that too for strictly exhibitionary purposes. The other contractor, Umesh Kumar is in critical condition.
WATCH: Moment when fire broke at Puttingal temple fire in Kollam (Kerala) due to fireworks display, 75 dead.https://t.co/xXtBnZkgWX
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 10, 2016
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All fireworks to be used were stocked in a concrete multistorey building, and the Kollam Police now says the temple was a disastrous choice to hold such a massive firework exhibition as it is surrounded by a highly-populated residential area.
Malayalam news channels report that the residents in the temple's vicinity were against the show, but temple board went ahead with it.
A case of culpable homicide has been registered against the Puttingal Devasom Board.
Around 3.30am today, the building where fireworks were stored, caught fire and thereby, it led to a massive explosion, killing and injuring many. Reports also say that the volume of the explosion led to people's ears bleeding profusely.
People trapped in major fire at Puttingal temple in Kollam thought it was part of the show. This delayed the rescue processes and worsened the situation. It was only when the show ended people realised a mishap has happened.
The scale of the tragedy could be understood from the footage captured on smartphones, now being played on TV news channels.
Meanwhile, Kerala CM Oommen Chandy has initiated processes to ensure financial aid to the victims of the tragedy and PM Narendra Modi has spoken to the CM to discuss and arrange immediate relief work including providing helicopters if needed.
Twitter reactions:
Fire at temple in Kollam is heart-rending & shocking beyond words. My thoughts are with families of the deceased & prayers with the injured.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2016
#Kerala temple tragedy should be a wake up call. Powerful temple administrations shd not be allowed to get away with flouting safety norms
— T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) April 10, 2016
#Kerala women activists are angry with poor representation. Kerala Congress & Muslim League have no women https://t.co/tnXlJnDtrn #elections
— Chitra Subramaniam (@chitraSD) April 9, 2016
A tragedy like this in election time will be fully exploited by political parties. #Kerala
— Nandagopal Rajan (@nandu79) April 10, 2016
Death toll in #Kerala #temple #fire up to 84; over 100 seriously injured in hospital; #CMO says no permission given for firecrackers
— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) April 10, 2016
#Kerala #Kollam Request no media trails,political brownie points,let's look into enforcing intergrity on self and systems ,being honest
— Shailesh Kumar K S (@CoinsKumar) April 10, 2016
I'm sure not a single safety measure was in place. #kerala
— kaveri (@ikaveri) April 10, 2016
Spoke to Kerala CM Sh.Chandy regarding the Kollam accident who apprised me of the situation.Assured him of all possible help from the Centre
— Rajnath Singh (@BJPRajnathSingh) April 10, 2016
#KeralaTragedy :horrific #Puttingal temple fire is symptom of criminal admin failure.Kolkata,Kerala -spate of weekly tragedies must end.1/4
— Jayaprakash Narayan (@JP_LOKSATTA) April 10, 2016
My prayers are with the families of victims of #Kollam Temple fire this morning in Kerala.
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) April 10, 2016
83 persons reportedly died in the Kerala temple fire incident today and about 350 persons are injured; MHA.
— PIB India (@PIB_India) April 10, 2016
Initial reports from multiple local TV channels said the ADM permitted the fireworks display but prohibited the fireworks competition. Now it's proven he had denied permission on the whole and had warned of strict legal action under the Fireworks Act of 2008.
The disctrict collector has denied giving permission though. Here's the collector's order denying permission.
Collector's order rejecting Kollam temple's application to hold fireworks display on Apr. 9 https://t.co/4wFYYXXfKM pic.twitter.com/vZPyjWRYRt
— Trivandrum Connect (@TvrmConnect) April 10, 2016
The Puttingal Devasom Board has been slapped with culpable homicide charges.
If relatives of the victims demanded, patients could be taken to any hospital they want, said Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy.
More than 1,500 people had assembled to witness the fireworks display as part of an age-old tradition at the Puttingal temple, ahead of Vishu.
The military assets deployed for rescue included two Navy Dornier planes, ten IAF and Navy choppers: four Mi-17, four Dhruv and two Chetak choppers, three Navy ships with medical facilities, and three warships.
The state government has offered Rs 4,00,000 and the Centre Rs 2,00,000 to families of the deceased in compensation. The prime minister has also announced Rs 50,000 in compensation for the injured.