Over 150 injured in fireworks accident in India’s Kerala

NEW DELHI, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) — Over 150 people were injured, some of them critically, in a fireworks accident during a temple festival in the southern Indian state of Kerala, officials said Tuesday.
The accident took place late Monday night in Kasaragod district, about 555 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.
“The injured were immediately taken to various hospitals in Kasargod, Kannur, and Mangaluru. The condition of 10 people is stated to be critical,” said a police official.
Visuals aired on TV channels and posted on social media from the spot showed crackers triggering a massive fire and a cloud of smoke. A fireworks display was going on around midnight and a huge crowd turned up to watch it on the temple premises.
Police officials suspect that one of the crackers may have fallen into the nearby shed where more crackers were stored and triggered the fire.
“We were told as people were watching the fireworks display, the shed suddenly erupted into massive flames and smoke, thus inflicting burn injuries on the people nearby,” the official said.
Local media reports quoting district officials said the firecrackers were stored close to where they were being set off.
Police have taken temple committee officials into custody and ordered an investigation into the accident. ■