Thrissur fireworks tragedy: Mathrubhumi journos on ground reveal heart-wrenching stories

What began as a routine assignment capturing the festive preparations for the Thrissur Pooram quickly dissolved into a scene of unimaginable horror following a catastrophic explosion at a local fireworks unit in Mundathikode in Thrissur. 
Journalists on the ground, who had moments earlier been filming workers in high spirits, found themselves documenting a grim landscape of thick smoke and shattered lives. From the tragic death of a craftsman who had just explained his trade on camera to the terrified cries of children, the aftermath reveals a profound human toll. This firsthand account captures the harrowing transition from celebration to mourning as the community grapples with the devastating blast.

When a regular day takes a tragic turn

On Tuesday morning, when we arrived to film the firework manufacturing process, they were all in high spirits—singing songs and sharing jokes. But when the explosion turned into a massive disaster, phone calls began pouring in from those who had seen the earlier footage.

One specific call was searching for Vasudevan, a native of Kumaranellur, Palakkad, whom we had filmed earlier attaching a timer to a large firework (Amittu). The calls kept coming to the phone of Mathrubhumi News cameraman Saji Pattambi. "Where is Vasudevan? We can’t reach him on his phone. Do you know what happened?"—the inquiries were frantic and continuous.

But we had no comforting answers for their anxious questions. Many were caught in the accident. We didn’t know exactly who was involved, though we knew there were women among them. In our hearts, we prayed that Vasudevan would be among the survivors.

However, by 9:00 PM, when the three deceased individuals were identified, Vasudevan was among them. The moments he spent explaining the timer to us flashed before our eyes as moments of grief. There was also a man named Wilson, who had taken our microphone and sung a song; we felt a sense of relief when his name appeared on the list of survivors. 

_ MS Lishoy

Loud thud and shattered lives

I was standing at the Thekkinkadu Maidan with Mathrubhumi News cameraman Abhilash Chirakkadavu, preparing a report on the elephant Ernakulam Shivakumar, who performs the Poora Vilambaram (the formal opening of the Thrissur Pooram). It was then that we heard the news of the explosion at the Mundathikode fields and immediately set off for the location.

Even three kilometers away from the Mundathikode fields, we could hear the faint sound of explosions. As we approached the site, the intensity of the sound grew heavier and louder. Due to the thick smoke and chaos, we had to park our vehicle a kilometer away and proceed on foot.

The air was thick with smoke and the pungent smell of gunpowder. While I was reporting, another explosion went off behind us. The firework manufacturing unit was engulfed in flames. Eight coconut trees in the nearby field were also seen burning. Just as those fires were being brought under control, trees in the adjacent plot began to catch fire. The fire brigade was in the midst of a desperate struggle to douse the flames. In the middle of the operation, they ran out of water and had to rely on water from a Thrissur Corporation drinking water tanker.

The body parts of the deceased were being recovered from as far as 500 meters away. I went to see a child who had been injured by flying glass shards from a window shattered by the blast; every single glass pane in that house had been obliterated. Meanwhile, a terrified three-year-old child was seen screaming in fear, crying out, "Mummy, a bomb exploded!"

_ Sreelakshmi Menon