In four days, Thiruvambadi was expected to light up the Thrissur sky, but disaster struck Kerala's cultural capital when the fireworks storage depot caught fire on Tuesday, killing 13 and injuring at least two dozen.
For more than a century, the temple's fireworks team has prepared for its annual contest with Paramekkavu during Thrissur Pooram. Night after night, fireworks shells are launched in carefully planned sequences. Each side tries to outshine the other in a display watched by lakhs of people.
On Tuesday afternoon at 3.30 pm, that preparation ended in disaster.
A fireworks storage shed at Mundathikode exploded while workers were preparing materials for the Pooram display. Twelve workers were killed. At least 17 others were injured and admitted to Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital. Five of them are in critical condition.
As per witnesses, window panes in nearby houses shattered in the impact. A massive plume of smoke rose across the paddy fields surrounding the shed.
Around 40 workers were present at the site when the explosion happened.
"Everything Happened Within Seconds"
One worker who survived the blast said the fire started while fuses were being dried in the field.
"The fire began near where I was standing while we were drying the fuses," he told reporters. "I saw the fuse catch fire and ran immediately. I think the heat may have caused it."
He said the flames spread within seconds.
"When I turned back, I heard a loud sound, and the fire had already spread. I fell, got up, and ran. Within two or three seconds everything started exploding."
The worker said he jumped across a fence and ran into the nearby paddy field to escape.
"If anyone got time to run, it was only two or three seconds. After that everything exploded and became a ball of fire," he said, trembling.
He also blames excess heat as a reason. "The fireworks wick has to be exposed to the sun and dried. The weather was extremely hot too," he suggested.
The Work Behind the Fireworks
The shed belonged to the Thiruvambadi Devaswom faction.
Workers there were preparing shells, measuring explosive powder and drying fuses for the upcoming Pooram fireworks competition. These materials are normally assembled over several days before the festival.
Residents nearby rushed to the area after hearing the explosion. By the time rescue teams arrived, several workers had already died at the site.
District Collector Shikha Surendran ordered a magisterial inquiry. The Thrissur Revenue Divisional Officer will lead the investigation. Officials also said a fire-force robot would be used to inspect the blast site.
Safety Rules Under Focus
Experts have repeatedly warned that fireworks raw materials should not be stored together in large quantities.
Fuses, chemical compounds, and assembled shells are meant to be kept in separate storage units at safe distances. Assembly should be done only in limited quantities at a time.
Whether these rules were followed at Mundathikode is now part of the inquiry.
The accident comes days after another explosion at a firecracker unit in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, where 25 workers were killed in similar circumstances. Kerala has witnessed a similar tragedy at Kollam in 2016.
Memories of the Puttingal Disaster
The blast has also brought back memories of the 2016 Puttingal temple fireworks accident in Paravur, Kollam.
More than 110 people were killed in that explosion after fireworks materials caught fire during an unauthorised display.
After the incident, the Supreme Court and the National Disaster Management Authority issued strict safety guidelines. These included limits on storage quantity, separate storage areas, and closer supervision during preparation.
Nine years later, another fireworks preparation site has seen multiple deaths.
A Festival Interrupted
The news spread quickly across Thrissur.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed all government departments to mobilise full support for the victims. He spoke to the chief secretary and instructed that comprehensive medical treatment be made available to all injured workers. The chief minister said specialist doctors from hospitals outside Kerala would also be brought in if needed to treat burn victims. He also expressed condolences over the deaths.
Police, Fire and Rescue Services, Health, Revenue, and Disaster Management departments are working in coordination as part of the emergency response. A special mechanism has been set up to monitor the rescue operation.
Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi returned from Delhi after the incident to assist with relief efforts.
Thrissur Pooram is one of Kerala's largest temple festivals. The fireworks contest between Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu draws lakhs of visitors every year. Preparations usually begin weeks in advance, and the final days before the festival are when the most intensive work happens at storage sites across the district.
This year, those final days brought not celebration but grief.
As investigators pick through the debris in Mundathikode's paddy fields, the question hanging over this tragedy is the same one that hung over Puttingal in 2016 and Virudhunagar just days ago. How many times must the sky fill with the wrong kind of fire before the rules written to prevent it are finally enforced?
