KOCHI: The Puttingal tragedy was an unexpected encounter for many who visited the temple on Saturday night. ‘City Express’ catches up with visitors to the festival
There was a Bad omen
Shibu Sivakumar, a spray paint worker from Chirakkara, says that the fireworks began with a bad omen. He recalls that when the first firework set off, it didn’t burst as planned. Instead, it exploded and a piece fell near the ashan’s son injuring his ear. He was immediately rushed to the hospital. “I left the festival grounds early and didn’t wait until the end. Some stayed as it was a weekend. The concrete building led to the casuality. Had it been a thatched shed, though the fireworks had burst, there would not have been much debris. Since it was housed inside a concrete building, huge beams, which travelled as far as 1.5 kilometers smashed into people killing and injuring many,” he added.
Searching among the crowd
Thushara, who works with a eye speciality hospital, rushed to Medical College as soon as she heard about the tragedy. Her brother-in-law Rajappan and nephew Pramod had gone to see the fire works at the temple festival. “Pramod is a rubber tapper. It was for the first time that he accompanied his uncle to set off the fireworks in the festival,” a visibly-shaken Thushara adds, amidst tears in her eyes. She adds that ever since the tragedy, Rajappan’s phone has been switched off and he couldn’t be located. Thushara and other relatives had arrived at the hospital and was waiting near the mortuary to identify a body.