THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 6 April 2007 — At least six people were charred to death, 50 injured and 30 shops gutted in a major fire that broke out on the busy Sweet Mart Street in Kozhikode city in north Kerala yesterday.
Firemen, army, navy and coast guard personnel took three hours to bring the fire that engulfed the historic downtown square in the morning under control. Police suspect that a short circuit in a shop that stockpiled crackers for next week’s Vishu festival could have triggered the fire.
Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said he has asked Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem and Forest Minister Binoy Vishwam to visit the area to monitor relief activities.
“The government will order an inquiry to ascertain the cause of the fire. It will also find out how a cracker shop was set up in a busy shopping area like the S. M. Street in the city,” Achuthanandan told reporters here.
Chief District Administrator A. Jayatilak said three of the dead were identified as Apputty, 81, Mithun Lal, 17, and Rahul, 16. Two bodies were charred beyond recognition and one person was reported missing.
Apputty is the owner of the Kerala Stationary Mart from where the fire spread. Mithun Lal was working as a part-time salesman in the shop during the school’s annual vacation. While three bodies were recovered from the wholesale cracker shop others were found in a neighboring shop. The conditions of two burn victims remained serious.
“This is a major fire in Kerala in recent times. All top officials in the district are on the spot and there will be a thorough investigation,” Balakrishnan said.
Quoting eyewitnesses, police said a loud explosion was heard around 9.30 a.m. from the second floor of Oasis Complex that houses the wholesale cracker shop even as loads of crackers were being unloaded there.
Fire engines were rushed from the neighboring Malappuram and Kannur districts to assist in extinguishing the fire while bulldozers razed neighboring shops to prevent the fire from spreading.
A team of doctors from the Southern Naval Command arrived from Kochi and a unit of the Territorial Army from Kannur arrived to help in rescue operations.
Jayatilak ruled out any sabotage attempt behind the fire. “For the moment, we do not suspect any sabotage attempt.... but a detailed probe will reveal the facts,” he told reporters.
His clarification came after television channels quoted eyewitnesses saying the explosion they heard did not match that of crackers.
