Fireworks explosion at Indian temple injures more than 150 people

Scores of people were gathered for a Hindu festival when a fireworks display caused fire

At least 150 people were injured after a massive fireworks explosion rocked a festival at a crowded temple in southern India on Monday night.

The explosion, which sent an inferno towering into the air, took place at the Anjootambalam Veerarkavu temple in Kerala state.

Scores of devotees had gathered at the temple in Kasargod, near the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, for an annual Hindu religious ritual known as theyyam, which is celebrated between dusk and dawn.

At least eight people were seriously injured.

A top government official said the fireworks display was happening without proper permission.

Police later took the temple committee’s president and secretary into custody and launched an investigation.

People gather at the Veerarkavu temple where a fireworks explosion occurred on Monday night in Kerala, India

The explosion occurred when sparks from a fireworks display ignited crackers in a storage shed, called a magazine, on the temple premises.

Fireworks explosions are common in India, where factories and shops make and sell firecrackers illegally or unregulated during the festival season at the end of the year. The country sees a huge demand for firecrackers which are used in religious festivals, such as Diwali, and weddings.

A police officer at the scene of the fireworks explosion at a temple in Kerala, India

In February, a fire ripped through a fireworks factory in central India, killing 11 people and injuring about 150. The incident took place in Harda, Madhya Pradesh.

In October last year, 14 people died in explosions at two fireworks factories in Tamil Nadu state as businesses geared up for the Diwali festival.

At least 23 people were killed the same year while making firecrackers in a village in Madhya Pradesh.

Nearly 100 people were killed after a blast tore through the Puttingal temple in Paravur in Kerala in 2016, in one the worst such incidents. The temple authorities reportedly did not have the required permission to conduct a fireworks display.