At least 100 killed as illegal firework display sparks huge blaze at Indian temple

A huge fire has killed more than 100 people and injured at least 250 others during a fireworks display in a Hindu temple in southern India on Sunday. The blaze started when a spark from the fireworks show ignited a separate batch of fireworks stored at the Puttingal temple complex in Paravoor village. It spread quickly, trapping many of the thousands of worshippers who had gathered for the display inside the temple complex. Further explosions sent huge chunks of concrete flying as far as half-a-mile, eyewitnesses said. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said: “Fire at temple in Kollam is heart-rending & shocking beyond words. My thoughts are with families of the deceased & prayers with the injured.”

It was complete chaos. People were screaming in the dark. Ambulance sirens went off, and in the darkness no one knew how to find their way out of the complex.

Krishna Das, who had just left the temple when the explosion occurred

The explosion happened as the display, held a few hours north of Kerala’s state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, was coming to an end at about 3am. Television footage showed images of huge clouds of white smoke billowing from the temple, as fireworks were still going off in the night sky. Villagers and police pulled out the injured from under slabs of concrete after the building where the fireworks were stored collapsed. By morning, firefighters had brought the blaze under control. Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy said temple officials had gone ahead with the fireworks display despite being denied permission because of safety concerns.

Many have sustained burns of over 50 percent and the condition of some of them is quite serious

D Mohandas, chief doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College

temple fire