‘Saw a fireball near my sister’s seat’: Eyewitnesses recount Kerala blast horror

On Sunday morning, they checked out from the hotel, took their bags and went to Zamra International Convention Centre, where they took their seats for morning prayers.

“It was around 9.30 am, I think. I was seated a few rows behind my sister. Suddenly, we heard a loud thumping noise and everyone rushed to the exits. As I was running out, I saw a fireball near the area where my sister was sitting and I was stunned. For a few minutes, it was not clear what had happened. Then, people assembled and started taking the injured to hospital,” she said.

A series of three blasts that took place at the convention centre during the prayer meet left two people dead and more than 30 injured. Police said initial investigations pointed to the use of IEDs in the blasts.

Reena from Kottayam district’s Ponkunnam tuned into the news on TV Sunday morning and was shocked. She knew that her daughter had gone to attend the prayer meet in Kalamassery. She started praying that her daughter would not be among the victims, but soon got a call informing her that her daughter was injured. She rushed to the Kalamassery hospital, and found her daughter there with 50 per cent burns to her back.

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“I have talked to her inside the burns ward. She is resilient. We also have to be. Soon, we will move her to a private hospital,” Reena said.

Kuriachan and his wife were also at the prayer meet when the blast took place, but were not injured. He likened the sounds of the blast to heavy fireworks.

“It was an intense blast. As soon as we heard the loud sound, we scampered outside, leaving our bags and mobile phones inside. For some time, we could not see anything because a thick fog engulfed the area. Thankfully, we escaped without any injuries because we were a few rows ahead of where the blast happened,” he said.

However, they are yet to get their belongings, including their bags and phones that were kept inside. “Even our car is inside. But we are thankful that we got at least our life,” Kuriachan said.

Another eyewitness to the chaos was Titus, who was responsible for helping attendees with their parking. He was still outside when he saw people rushing out of the hall after the blasts.

“I didn’t know what happened. No one knew what happened for some time. When the smoke cleared, we went inside and took out the injured. It was a horrific sight. Our only aim was to save as many lives as possible,” he said.