A fire and explosions during a fireworks display to mark the start of the local Hindu new year has killed 100 people and injured more than 380 at a temple in India's southern Kerala state.
Thousands of devotees had packed into the Puttingal Devi temple, about 70km from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram in the coastal district of Kollam, to watch Sunday's display that started at midnight and went on four hours.
"There were body parts on the floor and on the roof there was an arm"
The blaze started when a cracker fell onto a shed where the fireworks were stored, sparking a string of powerful explosions that blew the roof of the administrative block of the temple and caused another building to collapse, residents said.
"There were body parts on the floor and on the roof there was an arm," Anita Prakash, a resident said. "In the past, there's been fireworks but not on this scale."
Kerala is studded with temples managed by rich and powerful trusts that often flout local regulations. Each year temples hold fireworks displays, often competing to stage the most spectacular ones, with judges who decide the winners.
Kollam district magistrate A. Shainamol said people living in the area near the temple had complained about the danger of these fireworks in the past.
In this image made from video, a flash from an explosion is seen from the ground during a fireworks show at a temple in Kollam Source: AAP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Kollam with a team of doctors to help state authorities cope with the large number of injured, moving swiftly to head off criticism of a lack of public safety.
"The fire at the temple in Kollam is heart-rending and shocking beyond words," he said in a Twitter post. "My thoughts are with families of the deceased and prayers with the injured."
Modi has faced public criticism in the past for failing to respond quickly to disasters such as the floods in Chennai last year when large parts of the metropolis were under water for days before government help arrived.
Television images from the devastated temple site showed people, some clutching children with burn injuries, being taken to hospitals. Others carried out charred bodies of victims.
Kerala's Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told Reuters that 60 of the 100 dead had been identified while the number of people admitted to hospitals in Kollam and the state capital had risen to 383.
Kerala's Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Kollam district administration had denied the temple authorities permission for the display and the government would investigate why they went ahead anyway.
"There was no permission to even store the fireworks," he said.
Witnesses said they had repeatedly warned the local administration about the danger of firework displays in the crowded neighbourhood. Chennithala said a case for illegal possession of explosives had been registered against the temple.
The Puttingal temple is one of the oldest in the state. It was built on the site of an ant hill where locals believe a goddess appeared centuries ago.
In this image made from video, debris is seen following a fire and explosion at a temple in Kollam, in the southern Indian state of Kerala Source: AAP
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