Pakistan expresses deep condolences on Indian temple tragedy

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement condoled the incident in which at least 98 people have lost their lives and more than 350 were injured in the fire.

Islamabad: Pakistan on Sunday expressed its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in a massive fire at the Puttingal temple in India's southern Kerala state in the wee hours on Sunday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement condoled the incident in which at least 98 people have lost their lives and more than 350 were injured in the fire.

"The people and the government of Pakistan express their deep condolences on the loss of precious lives, resulting from fire breakout in the temple in South Kerala, India. Our sympathies are with the bereaved families. We wish early recovery to all injured people," the statement by Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

An explosion in piles of crackers during fireworks display is said to be the reason behind the fire that broke out at around 3.30 a.m. The police had earlier warned the temple authorities to restrict usage of fireworks.

Meanwhile, rescue operations are underway.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs. two lakh to next of the kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to those critically injured in the incident.

He will be visiting the site with a team of burn specialist doctors.