‘There was only fire and smoke’: Kerala blast witnesses recount horror

Officials said two people were killed in the multiple blasts, and 52 others were injured, of whom five are critical.

It was 9:30 am, and like everyone else in the hall, VK Michael’s, hands were clasped, his eyes shut in prayer. For three days, close to 2,500 people at the Zamra International Convention Centre in Kalamassery, 20 km from Kochi, had followed the same routine. They had collected for a three-day zonal conference of the Christian group, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and it would always start at this time with a prayer that would last about two minutes.

People gather after an explosion that killed a woman and injured several others, at a convention centre in Kochi (PTI)

Except on Sunday morning, one minute in, VK Michael was shaken by a terrifying blast. He opened eyes to a never-before-seen sight. “There was only fire and smoke in the hall. The blast took place in the middle of the centre where the console was placed. I was only five rows behind,” Michael, in his fifties, and dressed in a purple shirt and black cotton pants said.

Looking at the spot, he knew the damage was bad enough for there to be injuries. The only good thing, he will have thought, was that he had escaped.

Except, seconds after the first, Michael said, there was a second blast. “Just two seconds later, there was a second blast and more fire and smoke. Without too much panic and chaos, we made our way to the exit doors. We are always given specific instructions from organisers at these meetings on what to do during a fire or explosion. So we followed the instructions and got out,” Michael said.

Like many others, Michael had arrived at the venue in a private vehicle, but did not wait, worried about more violence. He packed his wife and two children in an auto-rickshaw for home, and waited to extricate his car. Those at the centre said that the police and health services arrived in15 minutes, cordoned off the area, and rushed the injured to nearby hospitals.

Officials said two people were killed in the multiple blasts, and 52 others were injured, of whom five are critical. At least one among them is a 12-year-old child, Kerala health minister Veena George said. Later in the evening, a man identified as Dominic Martin, who said he was associated with the Jehovah’s Witnesses for 16 years claimed responsibility for the blast, and surrendered at Kodakara police station in Thrissur.

Video footage from inside the hall in the immediate aftermath of the attack shows a thick plume of smoke, muffled screams of people trying to exit, dozens of chairs strewn in multiple places, some of them on fire. One woman, who did not want to be identified, told HT that she heard at least three successive blasts during the prayer. “We were seated towards the rear of the hall. When I opened eyes, there was damage in the middle of the hall. Everyone was confused as to what really happened. We first allowed the injured to be taken out. Some of them had bad burn injuries,” said the middle-aged woman from Kadavanthra.

Three hours after the explosions, Kuriachan KM, who had come from Angamaly town, 20 kilometres away, to attend the three-hour meet, sat exhausted on the sidewalk. He spent most of his time on the phone reassuring his panicked family that he had survived. He said that these three-day regional meetings were an annual affair. “This year’s theme was ‘kshama’ or patience. I cannot believe something like this could happen at our event. Why would anyone do such a thing?”