Indian police detain 5 as temple fireworks blast kills 110

PanARMENIAN.Net - Rescue officials on Monday, April 11 sifted through a Hindu temple in southern India where at least 110 people died when a fireworks display - an unauthorized pyrotechnic display that went horribly wrong - swept through a temple packed with thousands for a religious festival, the Associated Press reports.

The death toll so far from the pre-dawn fire on Sunday at the Puttingal Devi temple complex in the village of Paravoor, stood at 110 people with more than 380 others hurt, said police officer, Unnikrishnan.

According to AFP, Indian police on Monday detained five workers from the temple.

The fire started when a spark from the fireworks show ignited a separate batch of fireworks stored in the temple complex, said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the top elected official in Kerala state.

Police were searching for 15 members of the temple board who fled after the accident. Police were investigating for possible charges of culpable homicide, punishable with life imprisonment, and illegally storing a cache of explosives.

The temple holds a competitive fireworks show every year, with different groups putting on displays for thousands gathered for the end of a seven-day festival honoring the goddess Bhadrakali, a southern Indian incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali, AP says.

This year, however, authorities in Kollam district had denied temple officials permission to hold the fireworks display, said A. Shainamol, the district's top official.