Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan conveyed his deep condolences to the families of the victims who died in a stampede at a temple festival in Kozhikode on Friday. Devotees attending the Manakulangara Temple in Kuruvangad, Koyilandy in Kozhikode, fortuitously escaped the unfortunate incident when two elephants went amok.
Three persons died in the Kerala stampede—Ammukutty, Leela and Rajan, all of Kuruvangad. Two women and one man were among the dead. Moreover, around 30 other people suffered injuries and were immediately taken to Koyilandy Taluk Hospital and Kozhikode Medical College Hospital for treatment.
The reports said that the incident happened around 6 in the evening when the loud sound of the fireworks surprised one elephant, and it started charging the other elephant that was standing next to it. Suddenly, the devotees started to move with chaos and panic breaking out among them to seek safety. Thankfully, though the situation was terrifying, the elephants did not make direct attacks on the crowd, and a much bigger disaster was avoided.
Eyewitnesses have described how many of the devotees narrowly escaped the stampede. However, the mahouts, who were on top of the elephants when this chaos erupted, were thrown off, but the mahouts were not seriously injured. Both the elephants — Peethambaran and Gokul — were brought back to the city by authorities and mahouts, without causing any damage or casualties, more than 200 meters into the outskirts of the city. Still, the situation remained tense for over two hours.
The incident is under investigation by authorities, and safety concerns over elephants at temple festivals are once again being discussed. Meanwhile, CM Pinarayi Vijayan assured support to the affected families and that such tragic events need to be prevented by tough measures in future.
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