Kerala temple fire: Prohibitory orders violated as hospital staff cope with staff shortage

Thiruvananthapuram, April 10: Even as the Home Minister of Kerala, Ramesh Chennithala ordered a judicial inquiry into incident at Puttingal temple fire in which 86 have been killed, questions have already been asked if there was a sanction for a fireworks display.

Nearly 86 persons have died and 200 injured due to an explosion caused during a fireworks display at the Puttingal temple in Paravur, Kerala. The incident took place at around 3.30 AM on Sunday, April 10.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has cancelled his campaign and termed the incident as a major tragedy. While a high level inquiry has been ordered, officials are questioning if the temple authorities had permission to conduct the fireworks display.

Violative of prohibitory orders:

Officials say that the fire works display was conducted in violation of prohibitory orders in the state which goes to polls. Shred of the fireworks fell on the shed that had houses the explosives which led to this incident. The shed which housed high potency fire crackers caught fire which led to the incident, officials say.

The locals say that the normal practise is to have a fireworks competition. However, officials say that there was no competition this time around. We are not sure if there was sanction to have a fire works display, officials also added. However the priority at the moment is to treat the injured, officials say. The situation has been brought under control, they also added.

Shortage of staff:

The Thiruvananthapuram medical college where the injured are being treated unfortunately had a shortage of staff this morning since it was a Sunday. Most of the staff have been called back on duty to deal with the situation.

The government has already announced a financial package for those injured.
The police had a tough time controlling the crowd outside both the Thiruvananthapuram medical college and the Kollam District Hospital where the injured are being treated.

Additional police personnel have been posted to ensure that the situation does not get out of control. The hospital staff say that they will ensure that all those injured are given equal attention.

The task is tough, but we will manage it say the hospital authorities.

OneIndia News