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.