One killed, 150 injured in Sabarimala

PATHANAMTHITTA, DEC. 25. A woman pilgrim was killed and at least 150 others were injured when the iron barricade along the Marakkoottom-Saramkuthi stretch of the Sabarimala trekking path gave way under crowd pressure.

The incident is said to be the fall-out of the intimidatory tactics adopted by a few police personnel on duty at Saramkuthi when a group of pilgrims tried to jump the jam-packed queue.

The deceased has been identified as Samrajamma (55) of Agrahar, Guntur in Andhra Pradesh who had undertaken the pilgrimage along with the Guruswamy, Thippayya.

The body has been sent to the District Hospital at Kozhencherry.

Sabarimala has been witnessing unprecedented rush of devotees since Sunday morning and the police personnel deployed along the trekking path were struggling to regulate the crowd.

The queue of devotees waiting for darshan in the morning had even extended beyond 4 kms.

The policemen found it difficult to control the crowd of pilgrims who were trying to squeeze through the crammed barricades.

Some pilgrims, avoiding the barricades, tried to jump across the forest area to reach the Chandrananadan Road which is used by people returning from the Sannidhanam .

According to reports, when the iron barricade broke, uprooting the iron railings fixed in concrete, over 300 pilgrims in the queue were thrown out into the sloppy forest areas.

In a stampede-like situation, the pilgrims were found to be gasping for breath and the woman pilgrim died on the spot.

Fire service and police personnel rescued all the injured.

They were rushed to the Sannidhanam Government Hospital, SAHAS Cardiology Centre and the Cardiology Centre at Appachimedu.

Talking to The Hindu, the Medical Officer of the Sannidhanam Hospital, Dr. Padma Kumar, said about 140 persons were brought injured and were shifted to the Pampa Government Hospital.

Many had sustained bone fractures, head injuries, shoulder dislocation and abrasions, he added.

Six persons who were seriously injured were referred to the Pathanamthitta General Hospital and from there to the Kottayam Medical College.

The entry of pilgrims into the trekking path, which was blocked at Pampa around 9 a.m., resumed later.

The Special Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court, Mr. D. Sreevallabhan, said all possible steps had been taken to control the crowd.

The Director of Health Services, Dr. V.K. Rajan, who visited the General Hospital here, said the department had taken steps to provide maximum medical care to the injured.

The officials placed the total number of injured at 34, of them 19 were in serious condition.

Mr. K.K. Nair, Mr. Adoor Prakash and Mr. Raju Abraham, MLAs, and the Travancore Devaswom Board president, Dr. N. Babu, visited the hospitals.

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