An unauthorised fireworks show at a temple in Kerala yesterday sparked a fire that killed at least 110 people and injured more than 300, officials said.
The fire broke out at about 3.30am in the crowded precincts of the Puttingal Devi Temple in Paravoor in Kollam district, where thousands had gathered to see the fireworks display marking a local festival, district collector A Shainamol said.
She said the Kollam district authorities had refused permission to the organisers of the fireworks display and the temple to hold the show as it violated safety regulations.
A spark from a burning firecracker landed on a stockpile of fireworks and set them ablaze, leading to several explosions in the crowded grounds of the temple, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters after visiting the site.
The concrete building where the fireworks were stored came crashing down, injuring the crowds milling around it. The temple administration building near it was also destroyed.
 “Then it was absolute chaos and pieces of concrete were scattered all over the place and some of it were found over 2km away,” said television reporter Lallu Pillai.
Many victims were hurt in the stampede that followed the fire. Reports estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people were gathered in the temple grounds at the time, which had narrow exits.
“There were body parts on the floor and on the roof there was an arm,” Anita Prakash, a resident said. “In the past, there’s been fireworks but not on this scale.”
Local lawmaker N K Premachandran said the tragedy occurred during a fireworks competition traditionally held every year between different groups at the temple.
Kerala is studded with temples managed by rich and powerful trusts that often flout local regulations. Each year temples hold fireworks displays, often competing to stage the most spectacular ones, with judges who decide the winners.
Shainamol said people living in the area near the temple had complained about the danger of these fireworks in the past.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Kollam with a team of doctors to help state authorities cope with the large number of injured, moving swiftly to head off criticism of a lack of public safety.
“The fire at the temple in Kollam is heart-rending and shocking beyond words,” he said in a Twitter post. “My thoughts are with families of the deceased and prayers with the injured.”
Sixty victims had been identified so far and most of them were men, an official at the Kollam police control room said. Some of the bodies were badly charred.
Helicopters from the Indian Air Force and Navy had been deployed to airlift critically injured to Thiruvananthapuram.
The district hospital in Kollam and the main state-run hospital in state capital Thiruvananthapuram were overflowing with injured and their relatives, NDTV news channel reported.
Most of the injured had suffered burn wounds, or been hurt from flying cement and mortar or in the stampede.
Police filed charges against the temple authorities and the operators of the fireworks’ displays.
By evening, the police had detained five employees of a father-son contractor duo who were reportedly responsible for the fireworks show.
Both the father and the son were in hospital with serious burn injuries.
Manorama News channel showed the fireworks display followed by a blazing fire, smoke and explosions. Later video showed cranes and rescue workers trying to remove rubble to search for victims.
The fire was brought under control in about four hours, police said.
Chandy has ordered an investigation. “We will find out who took the decision to go ahead with the fireworks display despite permission being refused,” Chandy said.
Chandy said a separate judicial probe would look at accidents involving firecrackers and make recommendations.
Modi announced Rs200,000 in compensation for the families of those killed and Rs50,000 for those injured. NRI entrepreneurs Yusuffali MA and Ravi Pillai offered Rs100,000 each to the families of the dead and Rs50,000 to the injured.
Messages of condolence poured in from around the world, with Pope Francis’s office saying the pontiff was “praying for all affected by this tragedy”.
Britain’s Prince William and wife Kate said through a spokesman that they were “saddened by the news” after arriving in India yesterday for an official tour.
With Kerala in the midst of an election for a new state assembly, the fire quickly turned into a political issue as local leaders demanded an investigation.
In Kerala, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trails its Congress Party and communist rivals. The BJP has focused on building up grassroots strength in the state for decades.
The Puttingal temple is one of the oldest in the state, built on the site of an ant hill where locals believe a goddess appeared centuries ago.
This is the worst temple fire tragedy reported in Kerala so far. The highest toll before this was in 1952 when 68 devotees were burnt to death at the famed hill shrine of Sabarimala.