Over 90 bodies have been recovered so far. Of these, 54 have been identified. The dead bodies have been taken to Vandiperiyar Hospital in Idukki. Some of the injured have been rushed to Kottayam Medical College (Kerala) and Theni Medical College in Tamil Nadu.
The tragedy struck home-bound pilgrims returning after Makaravilakku ritual in Sabarimala, after a jeep carrying devotees ran into a resting camp. Sabarimala's Special Commissioner, Rajendra Nayar, told NDTV that the stampede occurred after the jeep accident caused panic amongst the devotees. (Watch) Most of the victims hailed from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Reports suggest that the accident and the consequent stampede occurred in a hilly area, beyond the Sabarimala police protection area. The terrain hence made rescue and relief operations difficult.
"A jeep went out of control and went and hit the devotees who were there. People have been killed because of the crash and also because of the stampede. Most of the casualties happened because of the stampede according to preliminary reports." Kerala's Education Minister M A Baby told NDTV.
"Idukki is a hilly area. So naturally this is a distant place. The accident took place at about 8:15 pm. The Chief Minister, Home Minister, other administrative heads have contacted the district administration. We are totally focused on providing the best treatment, rescuing the injured, recovering the dead bodies. Most of those killed are from other states. Among those who have been killed, most of them are from Tamil Nadu," he added.
The state DGP and the Home Secretary are supervising the rescue, search and relief operations. Frantic search is on for missing children. A special team of the National Disaster Response Force has left for the spot. The Kerala Chief Minister has called an emergency meeting on relief work.
The Prime Minister has expressed deep shock and sent his condolences to the bereaved families. He has sanctioned an ex-gratia of Rs. 1 lakh for the families of each of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 for those injured.
Defence Minister AK Antony has assured all possible help from the Army in rescue operations.
"I have never seen such a huge crowd at Pulmedu in my life. The flow of pilgrims returning was much more than anybody's expectations", said Aneesh, one of the early local rescuers to reach the spot. Officials also confirmed that the rush of pilgrims had been much higher than expected.
In a similar incident in 1999, a stampede at Pampa on way to the hill shrine had killed 50 people on the occasion of Makar Jyoti.
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