Ananthu, a victim of Kollam temple fire, is undergoing treatment at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.
Highlights
- Ananthu, 18, suffered serious burns and lost hearing in one ear
- His father's body was found today
- 109 people died, another 400 were injured in Sunday's fire
Ananthu PS lies in a hospital bed reliving second by second the fire that his father couldn't escape. When the fireworks at the Puttingal Devi temple turned into the darkest of nightmares, his father, in crutches, couldn't escape.
109 people died, another 400 have been injured in the tragedy that could have been avoided -- temple officials ignored a ban on the fireworks display, choosing instead an elaborate and lengthy spectacle with no safety precautions in Kollam, a coastal district of Kerala.
Ananthu is in hospital with serious burns. The 18-year-old has also lost hearing in one ear.
For his family, like thousands of others, attending the annual festival, in part because of the fireworks ritual, was a family tradition. His father's body was found today at the temple.
"We heard a loud noise and then a blackout. We ran but my father was handicapped," the teenager recalls.
A stray spark appears to have ignited a huge pile of fireworks stashed in a temple building. The explosion that followed was so powerful that one of the buildings came crashing down.
At the Thiruvanthapuram Medical College, hundreds like Ananthu are combating their burns. In the last 24 hours, 16 people have died.
"The biggest issue is congestion. There are too many people to handle with limited resources. A make shift ICU is being set up," says Dr Maneesh of AIIMS who is among the group of 26 burn specialists Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought from Delhi during his visit yesterday.