On the eve of Makara Jyothi Darsanam in Sabarimala, a stampede killed nearly 110 pilgrims out of which 15 were identified from Andhra Pradesh. After the Darsan of Makara Jyothi, pilgrims were returning from Sabarimala and were killed when a jeep ran over the devotees in a forest path at Pulimedu in Idukki district of Kerala at 8.15 PM which triggered a huge stampede. Jeep was crowded with devotees and was trekking through a narrow path in the forest area nearly 10kms away from Temple. Once the jeep turned turtle, pilgrims ran helter skelter leading to this terrific stampede.
As per initial estimates, nearly 60 Lakh pilgrims attended the Jyothi Darsan this time leading to heavy traffic jams for a length of nearly 30 to 40kms. Most of the bodies have been recovered and were sent to Kottayam Medical College and Vandiperiyar Hospital in Idukki.
Facilities provided by Kerala Government were no where near to the number count of pilgrims while the place where stampede occurred is beyond the Sabarimala police protection area which made rescue and relief operations further difficult.
As per latest updates, few hours ago early in the morning second stampede occured in the ghat road and nearly 50 were declared injured.