Sabarimala stampede: 104 pilgrims killed, 50 injured

Mtoday news

Vandiperiyar (Kerala), Jan 15 :  At least 104 pilgrims have been killed and over 50 injured in a stampede near Sabarimala shrine in Kerala’s Idukki district. The incident took place seven kilometres away from the shrine on Friday night.  (See Pictures)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dead bodies have been taken to Vandiperiyar Hospital in Idukki. Of these, 54 have been identified. Some of the injured have been rushed to Kottayam Medical College (Kerala) and Theni Medical College in Tamil Nadu.

The tragedy struck home-bound pilgrims returning after Makaravilakku ritual in Sabarimala, after a jeep carrying devotees ran into a resting camp. Sabarimala’s Special Commissioner, Rajendra Nayar, told NDTV that the stampede occurred after the jeep accident caused panic amongst the devotees. (Watch) Most of the victims hailed from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Reports suggest that the accident and the consequent stampede occurred in a hilly area, beyond the Sabarimala police protection area. The terrain hence made rescue and relief operations difficult.

 

 

"A jeep went out of control and went and hit the devotees who were there. People have been killed because of the crash and also because of the stampede. Most of the casualties happened because of the stampede according to preliminary reports." Kerala’s Education Minister M A Baby.

"Idukki is a hilly area. So naturally this is a distant place. The accident took place at about 8:15 pm. The Chief Minister, Home Minister, other administrative heads have contacted the district administration. We are totally focused on providing the best treatment, rescuing the injured, recovering the dead bodies. Most of those killed are from other states. Among those who have been killed, most of them are from Tamil Nadu," he added. (Watch)

Majority of the deceased are from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as the grassland forest route, known as `Pulmedu’ in the Periyar tiger reserve, is trodden by devotees from these states. Unconfirmed reports said one of those killed was a Sri Lankan national. According to official sources, at least 12 persons, some of them children, are feared missing.

The state DGP and the Home Secretary are supervising the rescue, search and relief  operations. Frantic search is on for missing children. A special team of the National Disaster Response Force has left for the spot.

Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan called an emergency meeting on relief work. He also ordered a judicial inquiry into the stampede.

Prime Minister expressed deep shock and sent his condolences to the bereaved families. He  announced Rs. 1 lakh for the families of each of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 for those injured.

Defence Minister AK Antony has assured all possible help from the Army in rescue operations. The Navy has dispatched an emergency medical team to the site.

"I have never seen such a huge crowd at Pulmedu in my life. The flow of pilgrims returning was much more than anybody’s expectations", said Aneesh, one of the early local rescuers to reach the spot. Officials also confirmed that the rush of pilgrims had been much higher than expected.

In a similar incident in 1999, a stampede at Pampa on way to the hill shrine had killed 50 people on the occasion of Makar Jyoti.

In 1952, over 60 pilgrims were burnt to death when two cracker sheds caught fire.

(With PTI inputs)

Helpline Nos: 04869222049, 04869252244, 04869253456
Bangalore control room numbers: 080 22215911, 1800-4250-100

 

Following is the list of 39 out of 54 victims identified so far:

KERALA

Komukutty Vengara - Malappuram

Unnikrishnan  Kottatharayil- Thrippunithura

KARNATAKA

Suresh -Mysore

Deepesh NS -Kallari -26-year-old

Manjunadhu -Karvadi - 26-year-old

Budhi Ghokkas- 30-year-old

Seetham Ghokkas - 26-year-old

Puneshathu Ghosh - 45-year-old

Babu- Mysore

Sivalinga Iyer - Murukkodu Medu

Malleswar -Kurkkatty - 26-year-old

Bassu Ghokhar

Manju Nath - 21-year-old

Vishnu Murthi - 25-year-old

Sabu Rao

ANDHRA PRADESH

Arun Methak 20-year-old

Raju- Oncole district

Sreenu - 26-year-old - Malgunda

S Aravind - Manjeswaram

Ram Babu Reddy

Sangam - 30-year-old Ramakkot, Karur Nagar


TAMIL NADU

Ambarassu - Dharmapuram

Murukeshan - 50-year-old Ootty

Rajaratham - 30-year-old - Pollachi

Anju Kumar - 34-year-old - Pollachi

Krishnan - 40-year-old Dharmapuram.

Raman 25-year-old -Kudulur

Raj kumar 30-year-old - Melur -Ootty

Selraj - 40-year-old - Thirunalveli

Ramachandra - Madhurai

Selvaraj - 38-year-old - Thirunelveli

Arun - 20-year-old - Madhurai

Ayyappan - 30-year-old - Dharmapuri

Madhu - Chennai

Govindraj - Mettupalayam

Prasanth - 44 -year-old - Salem

Krishna prasanthan - 34-year-old - Chennai

Subramanian - 32-year-old - Kanjeepuram

Sangam - 35-year-old - Thuthukudi.