The new year celebrations at Puttingal Devi Temple include the fireworks display during midnite hours. The temple is located in the coastal town of Paravur located about 60 kms from Thiruvananthapuram.

The tragedy struck during the fireworks which started at midnight and caused the blaze at the Puttingal Devi temple. The tragedy seems to be mainly because the building that stored crackers caught fire at the end of the program. At the end, a cracker landed in that building, catching fire causing a massive explosion.

The incident happened around 3:30am and the building collapsed after catching fire. There could be 10,000 people in premises when this mishap took place. It is reported that atleast 102 people died and over 300 injured.

The precautions are not taken seriously in India and playing with fire or stampedes at the temples are caused due to the negligence and poor administration most of the time. The safety guidelines are usually meant for documents and no one ever imposes them. There were many instances that people died in stampedes at the temples and with large gatherings, evacuation is also a problem during emergency situations.

Chief minister Oommen Chandy cancelled his campaign for the elections that begin on May 16 and rushed to the spot. Kerala’s chief secretary was asked to write a letter to the election commission for sanctions to exclude treatment facilities to the injured from the ambit of the poll code.

The post Fire at Puttingal Devi temple in Kollam District appeared first on Golkondanews.com.