Fire tragedy at Kollam’s Puttingal temple

April 11, 2016 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

After a major fire broke out at the Puttingal Devi temple in Kollam district, more than 100 people have been killed and 300 more have been injured. This tragic incident happened at the temple around 3:30 am yesterday at the time of the firecrackers blasting during festival celebrations.

In order to take care of the injured, the Air Force has sent out four helicopters to airlift the injured out of the temple site and take them to the hospitals to Thiruvananthapuram. VS Shivakumar, the Health Minister directed to make all arrangements at Trivandrum Medical College and Kollam general hospital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Rs.2 lakh as compensation for the family of the deceased and Rs.50,000 to those who are injured. The Prime Minister visited the temple with a team of medical experts.

Financial support has also been announced by the Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala for the dead and the injured. A judicial probe would also be launched soon according to the Home Minister.

It has been confirmed by the office of Kerala Chief Minister that the temple authorities were not granted permission to store or use crackers in the temple premises. Furthermore, the use of firecrackers has also been denied by Shaina Mol, the district collector.

Even though there was no permission for fireworks, they were used in the run up to Malayalam New Year, Vishu on April 14. Chandy said that this situation was not expected and alarming. He added that rescue operation at the mishap spot is over. The current main focus is for the government to provide best treatment to the injured.

It seems that the Devaswom Board building in the temple premises have also been completely destroyed. According to Kunjumon, a local believer, a spark from a live cracker landed in the building which store a lot crackers and that caused the accident.

Image Credit: Photo by Guido Jansen on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)