From Those Burnt By Kollam Fire, Flares Support For Fireworks

Kollam, Kerala: Lying in the general ward of the Kollam district hospital in Kerala with a fractured arm and an injured back, 49-year-old Kuttapan says he would not like to see the fireworks, which have sent him here, be banned.

"I don't think there is anything wrong in what has happened. It's our tradition", Kuttapan said.

He was one among the 10,000 people who gathered to witness the illegal display of fireworks during the Puttingal temple festival on Sunday, which killed over 100 people and injured nearly 400. But like many around him, he says he would still return to see fireworks next year

"Till the time I am alive, I will come and see this festival. It's something I have been doing since I was a child", a 54-year-old injured man, Surendran, said.

On a bed next to him, 39-year-old Ashraf Ebrahim Kutty has come to meet an injured victim, whom he rescued.
 He was among those, who despite fearing for their lives, rallied to save dying people. But Ashraf believes that while safety standards need to be in place, saying 'no' to fireworks is unacceptable defiance of tradition.

"Thrissur temple festival is coming. Kollam temple festival is coming. They are large-scale and fireworks are the main attraction. They are part of Kerala's tradition and stopping them is not the answer. Instead they should be held in safe environments," Ashraf says.

But the relatives who have been witness to the horror of charred bodies being brought to the hospital, and family members unconscious say fireworks should never again be allowed.

"No village should have any kind of fireworks. How many people's livelihood has been snatched with this and so many lives destroyed," said Shiji, relative of one of those killed.