Five hurt as fireworks explode at temple

THIRUANANTHAPURAM: Five persons were injured on Sunday when explosives kept for fireworks at Vellayani Sree Mahadevi temple near here went off after sparks from a bursted pipe-gun (Kathina) fell into the storeroom (Vedippura). The injured have been identified as Velappan,68, Unni,18, Vishnu,22, Siva Kumar,23, and Unni,18, all hailing from Vellayani and nearby places.According to police, the incident occurred at 8.50 am, 10 minutes before the commencement of Aswathi pongala festival at the temple. The embers from an exploded pipegun fell on the stored explosives resulting in the blast. The five men who were handling the explosives received burn injuries. They were taken to Medical College Hospital here and later shifted to a private hospital.  Nemom SI S Ajaya Kumar said that there was nothing suspicious about the incident and it was a mishap."The explosives were kept in the storeroom and pipeguns were set off one by one. The embers of a pipegun fell into the storeroom and ignited the explosives stored there. Five people engaged in filling and exploding of the pipeguns received burn injuries,’’ he said.At the time of explosion, there was a large number of devotees in the temple.  Fire-fighting units rushed to the spot and doused the fire. The police have registered cases against five men for careless handling of explosives.