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Girl, 12, Among 3 Dead, Over 50 Injured In Blasts At Kerala Prayer Meet

The death count from the series of blasts at a convention centre in Kerala’s Kalamassery increased to three on Monday.

A 12-year-old girl, who was among over 50 people injured in the blast at a Christian religious gathering on Sunday, died at the Kalamassery Government Medical College Hospital.

Libina from Kerala’s Ernakulam district was admitted to the hospital with severe burns covering 95 per cent of her body and was put on ventilator support.

Earlier, two women died and over 50 people were injured in multiple blasts at a Christian religious gathering in a convention centre in Kalamassery in the Ernakulam district. 

The blasts took place when hundreds of followers of the minority Christian group Jehovah’s Witnesses had assembled on the concluding day of a three-day-long prayer meeting.

Hours after the blasts, which sent shockwaves across the country and put Delhi and Mumbai on high alert, a man claiming to be a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, surrendered before police in Kerala’s Thrissur district.

IED used in Kerala blasts

The Kerala Police said that the Improvised Explosive Device was used in the blasts. The explosives were kept in a tiffin box, said sources.

According to officials, there were around 2,000 people at the convention centre when the blasts took place. Sunday was the last day of the three-day meeting, which started on October 27.

The blasts will now be probed by the National Investigation Agency, which specialises in counter-terrorism operations. The agency’s forensic team reached the spot on Sunday and collected evidence.

Police have registered an FIR against unknown persons under Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC as well as provisions of the Explosives Act and the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

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