The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Narrow escape for many

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Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008
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Kerala - Kochi

Narrow escape for many

Anand Haridas

KOCHI: “My ears are still ringing,” was all that Sreelal could say first. The youth was among the crowd at Maradu Kottarathil Bhagavathy Temple into which a ‘dynamite’, as the explosive is called, landed and exploded killing two and injuring nearly 30.

“I was with my friend Manu and we moved under the shade of a tree to avoid ash from falling on us. We saw two dynamites taking off, only one exploded in the air. As we were wondering what happened to the second one, someone said it has landed amidst us,” he said, as his relieved family gathered around him.

What followed was utter chaos, with people scampering. His friend pulled Sreelal down and that, he believes, saved him. “When we stood up, we could see one person, whose guts were spilled out. And another had his face totally burnt. Those two were probably the ones who died,” said Sreelal.

On conditions of anonymity, one of the organisers said that the problem was caused by the crowd that refused to maintain a safe distance from the school ground near the temple, from where the fireworks was set off.

“From what I could gather, one of the spectators tried to move the dynamite that did not go off after it landed in their midst and that triggered the explosion,” he said.

There were complaints also of not enough safety arrangements being made for the fireworks display. “The injured had to be taken in autorickshaws, that too shifting from one vehicle to another as the roads were clogged in no time,” said one of the witnesses.

Traffic disrupted

Traffic along the National Highway was blocked at Kundanoor following the incident and long lines of vehicles could be seen along the road to Pettah.

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