Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday those who suffered serious burns during a temple fire disaster in Kerala could be shifted to Delhi and Mumbai.
After visiting Paravur town in Kollam district where at least 110 people were killed, Modi said his government stands with the people of Kerala.
Making a brief statement at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital after visiting the injured, the prime minister said he was deeply grieved over the incident.
“We stand by Kerala’s grief and we will do everything we can to bring down the misery. The seriously injured can be shifted to hospitals in Mumbai and Delhi,” Modi said before leaving for the airport to return to Delhi.
“I visited the temple site and the hospital. My sympathies are with the kin of the deceased persons. The tragedy was so horrific that it can’t be expressed in words. People at a distance of 200m got injured. No one could have thought of such death,” he said.
Modi arrived in the state capital earlier and took a helicopter to Kollam, about 60km away, where he was received by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. He asked Chandy to join him in his vehicle to the temple.
The prime minister spent about 10 minutes walking around the temple complex, where Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and Lok Sabha member N K Premachandran explained to him the sequence of events that led to the tragedy.
From the temple, Modi and Chandy drove to the Kollam district hospital where 185 of the injured people are undergoing treatment.
He then chaired a meeting with Chandy and senior officials and assured them all support from the central government.
The tragedy occurred around 3.30am when a spark from a firecracker landed on a building where a large quantity of crackers was stored, setting off explosions and a massive blaze.
Speaking to reporters at the accident site, Chennithala said the prime minister was very particular about the way unclaimed bodies were to be handled.
“He said special care and attention should be taken to see that DNA test is done on such bodies.”
Only two of the dead were women, police sources said.
For hours after the tragedy, charred bodies and human remains lay scattered in the temple complex. Authorities then began clearing the heaps of debris.
Amid the election fever in Kerala, Chandy held an emergency cabinet meeting in Kollam. He said the incident “should open the eyes of all of us.”
He said the government would bear the medical expenses of the injured.
At the Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram, about 60km away, 124 people were admitted, mostly with broken bones in their hands and legs. A few had burn injuries, indicating fire was not the only cause of death.
Within hours, the army, air force and the navy joined in rescue operations and to provide medical treatment. Ships sailed from Kochi while helicopters flew in from Tamil Nadu as well.
All political parties yesterday cancelled their election meetings as a mark of respect for the dead.Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits an injured patient at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.