Kasaragod: The police have filed a case following an explosion at the storage area for fireworks during the Anjoottambalam Veerakavu Kaliyattam festival in Nileshwaram, Kasaragod. The FIR has been registered for negligent handling of fireworks. The officials of the Veerakavu Temple Committee have been taken into custody in connection with the incident.
The committee president and secretary were taken into custody. It’s alleged that storing fireworks in the temple storeroom close to the Theyyam performance area was a severe oversight. Eyewitnesses reported that boxes of fireworks were stored near where the fireworks were ignited, with many people standing nearby. Several people sustained severe injuries, and the storeroom’s roof and doors were damaged. The area is strewn with shoes and other belongings of those present.
Those in the vicinity were reportedly unaware of the stored fireworks. Kasaragod District Collector Impashekar noted that there were safety lapses in the incident, which injured 154 people, 97 of whom are currently hospitalized. Eight of the injured are reported to be in critical condition, with Sandeep among the most severely injured, suffering 80% burns. He was transferred early in the morning from Pariyaram Medical College to a private hospital in Kozhikode.
Currently, five people are receiving treatment at Pariyaram Medical College, 16 at Kanhangad Hospital, 10 at Sanjeevani Hospital, 17 at Aishal Hospital, 5 at Pariyaram Medical College, 18 at Kannur MIMS, 2 at Kozhikode MIMS, 3 at Arimala Hospital, 2 at KAH Cheruvathur, 5 at Mansoor Hospital, 1 at Deep Hospital, and 18 at MJ Medical College in Mangalore.
The incident occurred around midnight during the Kulichu Thottam ritual of the Moovalamkuzhi Chamundi Theyyam. The initial assessment suggests that the spark from a ceremonial firework ignited the fireworks stored nearby, causing the explosion. The police have filed a case and detained the president and secretary of the Anjoottambalam Veerakavu Committee.
