Kerala inferno: 102 people killed in fire at Puttingal Temple this morning

At least 102 people were killed in an accident on Sunday due to a firework display which caused a massive blaze at the Puttingal temple in the coastal town of Paravur.

The tragic incident occurred around 3.30 am.

Speaking to a news agency, Lallu S.Pillai who was covering the temple festival for Asianet News TV, said it only took a few minutes for the disaster to take place.

“I was watching the event unfold about 150 metres from the terrace of my friend’s home. The firework display was only around half an hour to finish when a spark of an already lit cracker landed in the concrete building that stored the high potency crackers. In few minutes, the building came crashing down and we felt the place shaking,” said Pillai.

“Then it was absolute chaos and pieces of concrete were scattered all over the place and some of it were found over 500 metres away in a taxi stand,” Pillai added.

Numerous homes in half a kilometre radius have been damaged.