A Decade After Kerala's Deadliest Fireworks Tragedy, Survivors Carry Unhealed Wounds
For retired police officer Firosh Khan, now 56, the memory remains as vivid as the night it happened. "A blast. Then silence. Then screams," he recalls, describing the moment when celebration turned into catastrophe at the Kollam Puttingal Devi temple. What began as a fireworks display on April 10, 2016, spiraled into one of Kerala's most devastating tragedies, claiming 110 lives and leaving 656 injured.
The Night That Changed Everything
Firosh Khan was stationed at Paravur police station that fateful night. He had been preparing to leave for personal work when duty called him back—a decision that would permanently alter his life. "I heard the explosion and rushed toward the temple compound," he remembers. "Then a second blast threw me to the ground. When I opened my eyes, bodies and body parts were scattered everywhere. That scene will stay with me forever."
The second explosion left him paralyzed from the waist down with severe injuries to his spine, leg, and shoulders. Following months of hospitalization, multiple surgeries, and extensive rehabilitation, he eventually returned to service, continuing quietly until his retirement in May 2025.
"People advised me to undergo cosmetic procedures to erase the scars," Firosh reveals. "But I see them as part of my duty. The pain remains, but life must go on."
Lives Shattered by Trauma and Disability
While Firosh lives with what he witnessed, Lalu BS lives with what refuses to let him rest. "I lost my sleep after the incident," he confesses. "Even now, I wake up suddenly, terrified. My family worries about my health, but I don't know how to cope with it."
Both his legs were shattered in the blast, leaving him permanently disabled. Though he later resumed work as a section officer at the Public Service Commission in Kollam, mobility remains a daily struggle. Reconstructive surgery has left the skin on his feet thin and extremely sensitive.
In a cruel twist of fate, Lalu had not even planned to attend the fireworks that night. "I reached the temple compound just minutes before the blast," he says. "The second explosion came soon after. I remember the burning smell, the screams, the confusion. I wanted to run, I wanted to cry, but I couldn't even move."
Careers Destroyed and Lives Rebuilt
For Shaji Dharan, the blast altered the entire course of his life. A close friend of Lalu, Shaji had been working in Dubai and had returned home on leave. He had just three days left before flying back when the explosion took his right hand.
"I had everything planned," Shaji says. "But after the incident, nothing was the same. I lost my hand, my job, and the life I had built." The injury ended his chances of returning abroad, pushing him into financial uncertainty. Today, he runs a small stationery shop outside his house, rebuilding his life in ways he had never imagined.
The Struggle for Basic Survival
For Subendran C, a construction laborer, survival itself became a prolonged struggle. Sitting just meters from the explosion site with friends and relatives, he was thrown nearly 30 meters by the impact. He suffered over 60% burns and multiple fractures, remaining among the last to be discharged from the hospital.
"When I regained consciousness, my relatives were injured and my friends were gone," he recalls. "People like us don't have the luxury to rest. I had to recover and get back to work." Even now, the damage lingers—the skin on his legs remains sensitive, and each anniversary unsettles him deeply.
"I don't know how life is moving forward," Subendran admits. "But it is."
The Broader Impact and Legal Proceedings
The Puttingal fire did more than claim lives—it shattered families, displaced livelihoods, and damaged 358 houses, exposing glaring lapses in safety regulations surrounding fireworks displays.
A decade later, the legal process continues. The Kollam crime branch has chargesheeted 59 accused in the case, of whom 15 have since died. The investigation reflects the tragedy's magnitude:
- Over 1,400 witnesses interviewed
- Thousands of documents examined
- Hundreds of material exhibits collected
For special public prosecutor K P Jabbar, the case extends beyond individual culpability. "This is not just about identifying who is guilty," he emphasizes. "It is about setting a precedent. Public events involving explosives demand strict enforcement of safety norms. If this leads to greater awareness and compliance, at least some purpose is served."
The Unhealing Wounds of Memory
For all the survivors, that sequence of events—the blast, the silence, the screams—has not faded with time. It returns without warning, in fragments of memory and in sleep. They continue to live not just with physical disabilities but with memories that refuse to heal.
The trauma has outlived the injuries, with nights proving particularly difficult when the body rests but the mind does not. As Kerala marks a decade since the tragedy, the survivors of Puttingal carry wounds that time has not healed—wounds that serve as permanent reminders of a night when celebration turned to catastrophe.
