Death toll in Kerala blasts rises to six

PTI, Nov 17, 2023, 11:52 AM IST

The death toll from the blasts at a Christian religious gathering in nearby Kalamassery in October has risen to six, government sources said on Friday. Malayatoor resident Praveen (24) died at a private hospital on Thursday, authorities at the hospital, where he had been treated, said.

”He was in the ICU. He passed away at 10.40 PM on Thursday,” a hospital source told PTI.

His mother, who suffered serious wounds in the blasts, had died on November 11, while his younger sister Libina had succumbed to injuries on October 30, a day after the blasts occurred at the gathering of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The medical board, responsible for treating those wounded in the incident, is yet to release the medical bulletin indicating the number of patients under treatment following the blasts.

The blasts took place during a gathering of Jehovah’s Witnesses on October 29. They had gathered for the final day of a three-day-long prayer meeting.

Libina had passed away on October 30 at the Kalamassery Government Medical College Hospital, and two women who were part of the gathering lost their lives on the day of the blasts. Subsequently, 61-year-old Moly Joy from Kalamassery died at a private hospital on November 6.

During the multiple blasts at the international convention centre in Kalamassery, over 50 people were injured, some seriously. A few hours after the incident, a man named Dominic Martin, claiming to be an estranged member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, surrendered before the police in Thrissur district, asserting that he carried out the multiple blasts.

The police later recorded his arrest.

In addition to Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (punishment for murder) and Section 3 of the Explosive Substances Act, relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) have also been invoked against Martin.