Kerala Kalamassery blasts: Toll rises to 3 as child with 95 pc burns from Jehovah's Witnesses convention succumbs

The death toll from the blasts at a Jehovah's Witness convention near Kochi has risen to three, with a child succumbing to burns during the wee hours on Monday. The deceased identified as Libina from Malayattorr in Ernakulam district was 12. She was treated at the Kalamassery Government Medical College Hospital, after about 50 persons were injured in the blasts that were reported at Jehovah's Witnesses convention here at Kalamassery in Kochi.

Kochi:The death toll from the blasts at a Christian religious gathering of Jehovah's Witnesses denomination held at Kalamassery near here has risen to three, officials said.

The hospital authorities identified the deceased girl as Libina, a resident of Malayattoor in Ernakulam district. The 12-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries in the early hours of Monday at the Kalamassery Government Medical College Hospital, they said.

The hospital's medical board, in a statement, said the girl was admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning. The extent of burns was as such it covered 95 per cent of her body, it said.

"Despite receiving ventilator support, her condition continued to deteriorate, leading to her death at 12.40 am."

The Monday's death marks the third casualty from the blasts reported at the convention.

Later in the day, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will be chairing an all-party meeting in the wake of a blast at a convention centre at Kalamassery in Kochi.

A statement from the Chief Minister's Office said Vijayan's all-party meeting on Monday will take place at 10 am in the Chief Minister's conference hall in the Secretariat complex.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George said overall 52 people were admitted to different hospitals. She visited the Kalamassery GH where 30 people are admitted. "18 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and six are critically injured, one among them is a 12-year-old child. The rest of the injured are in other private hospitals," she said on Sunday.

Kerala DGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb told the media persons that the blast was caused due to an improvised explosive device (IED). "According to the preliminary probe, the blast occurred due to an IED. We are examining it," the DGP said.

Over 50 individuals were injured, some seriously, during the multiple blasts at the international convention centre in Kalamassery where the followers from the minority Christian group, Jehovah's Witnesses, had gathered for the final day of a three-day-long prayer meeting.

A few hours after the incident, a man claiming to be a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, surrendered before police in Thrissur district of the state, saying that he carried out the multiple blasts.

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