Nursing professionals hurrying to attend to patients in intensive care unit after a mass casualty were stopped by security personal for thirty minutes.
A group of junior doctors called to attend an emergency were prevented from accessing Lift or stairs to go to the Operation Theater for some time by security personal.
Is this really happening?
Yes, it happened in India after the recent fireworks accident at Kollam, Kerala.
Why were they prevented ?
As more details of the horrendous tragedy at a temple in Kollam, Kerala, India during fire works display that resulted in death of more than 100 people is coming out, it is becoming clear that it was a very well fore-seen and avoidable disaster.
An old woman living 25 meters away from the site had given a written complaint to the authorities asking them to ban fire works. She had mentioned that she is suffering from heart disease and cannot withstand loud sounds. She had also complained that her house regularly gets damaged due to this annual event.
Woke up this Sunday morning to hear the shocking news of death of more than 80 people in a fire works accident in my state of Kerala in India, around 170 miles from my town.
Temples in Kerala usually have big fire works display along with its annual festivities. Some temples will even have a fire works competition between two neighbourhood communities. Around 100 meters from my house also such a fire works display take place, though at a much smaller scale. Many of these explosive material are handled very carelessly and accidents do happen very often.
Temples are located in very populous areas and huge crowds throng during this time at the premises. Any minor fire can cause massive damage. Being an issue related to religion and tradition, safety concerns take a back seat. Human lives have low value when it comes to festivities related to god.
Does the mythical gods require such dangerous fire works displays for them to bless us?
Let me condole this tragic loss of life, which might have been prevented if safety of human lives were given much more importance than the pomp and splendour of religious festivals.