Kumily  ( Kerala) : At Sabarimalai yesterday on a Black Friday, thousands of pilgrims ran up and down to see Makara vilakku ( Sky lamp) on the hills when a huge stampede took place on the slopes killing 104 of them in the rush that happened down hills while returning from the shrine at around 8.30 pm yesterday. The death toll is likely to increase today with hundreds of injured pilgrims hospitalized in a small town at the foot hills.
A team of 60 doctors began the grim task at the Kumily government hospital, some 15 km from the accident site in Idukki district. Many of them (patients) are seriously injured.
Hospital authorities said 20 autopsies are being conducted at a time.
One Sri Lankan is among those killed, while 18 are from Tamil Nadu, 12 hail from Karnataka, six from Andhra Pradesh and three belong to Kerala, hospital oficial said.
Idukki Congress MP P.T. Thomas said 71 bodies have so far reached the Vandiperiyar hospital, where all the bodies are being brought after which their autopsy is being conducted at Kumily.
As some of the doctors were busy conducting autopsies, pilgrims tried to identify their near and dear ones among the dead.
Several other doctors treated the scores of injured rushed to the hospital. At least 60 people are said to have sustained grave injuries in the tragedy.
The stampede near the famed Sabarimala temple occurred around 8.30 p.m. Friday when the pilgrims were returning after watching the celestial Makara Jyothi, the most important event of the pilgrimage, from a hillock some 30 km from the Sabarimala temple.
The tragedy took place in Pulumedu, a forest area about 10 km from the Vandiperiyar town, and about 30 km from the Sabarimala temple in Pathanamthitta district.
The bodies were first brought to the Vandiperiyar government hospital and from there it was moved to the hospital in Kumily.
“Around 43 bodies have been identified so far and a majority of the dead are from nearby states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. ‘So far three Malayalis are reported dead,” said senior Congress leader E.M. Augusthy.
State Finance Minister Thomas Issac reached the hospital and said that the state government will meet the expenses for treating the injured, including those in private hospitals in Idukki and Kottayam districts.
“We are told the gruesome accident took place around 8.00 p.m. at Pulumedu. The entire place was full of vehicles and more than a lakh of pilgrims were returning from a hillock after seeing the celestial light that appeared on the horizon soon after 7 p.m.,” Issac said.
“Suddenly a jeep that broke down and lost control rammed into the waiting pilgrims. This created panic, leading to the stampede,” said Thomas.

Following is the list of 39 identified victims in the Sabarimala stampede that occurred last night.

KERALA

Komukutty Vengara – Malappuram
Unnikrishnan  Kottatharayil- Thrippunithura

KARNATAKA

Suresh -Mysore
Deepesh NS -Kallari -26
Manjunadhu -Karvadi – 26
Budhi Ghokkas- 30
Seetham Ghokkas – 26
Puneshathu Ghosh – 45
Babu- Mysore
Sivalinga Iyer – Murukkodu Medu
Malleswar -Kurkkatty – 26
Bassu Ghokhar
Manju Nath – 21
Vishnu Murthi – 25
Sabu Rao

ANDHRA PRADESH

Arun Methak 20
Raju- Oncole district
Sreenu – 26- Malgunda
S Aravind – Manjeswaram
Ram Babu Reddy
Sangam – 30 Ramakkot, Karur Nagar

TAMIL NADU

Ambarassu – Dharmapuram
Murukeshan – 50  Ootty
Rajaratham – 30 Pollachi
Anju Kumar – 34 Pollachi
Krishnan – 40  Dharmapuram.
Raman 25 Kudulur
Raj kumar 30 Melur -Ootty
Selraj – 40 Thirunelveli
Ramachandra – Madhurai
Selvaraj – 38-year-old – Thirunelveli
Arun – 20-year-old – Madhurai
Ayyappan – 30-year-old – Dharmapuri
Madhu – Chennai
Govindraj – Mettupalayam
Prasanth – 44 -year-old – Salem
Krishna prasanthan – 34-year-old – Chennai
Subramanian – 32-year-old – Kanjeepuram
Sangam – 35-year-old – Thuthukudi.

Relatives of the 104 dead so far and the hospitalized and injured pilgrims in hundreds are expected to rush to Sabarimalai Region in search of their near and dear ones.