A judicial enquiry has been ordered in to the death of 102 Sabarimala pilgrims in Kerala in a stampede. 80 other devotees have been injured in the stampede at Uppupara on the Pullumedu-Vallakadavu forest route in Idukki district, while they were returning after holy darshan at the shrine of Lord Ayyappa on Makar Sankranti day on Friday night. The stampede was reportedly caused when a jeep ran off the road hitting an auto-rickshaw triggering panic among the pilgrims.

Meanwhile, bodies of the victims are being despatched to their native places. Arrangements have been made to airlift 22 bodies from the Cochin international airport to Hyderabad. Of these, 12 bodies have aleady reached the airport. Of the 102 persons killed in the mishap 32 are from Karnataka, 34 from Tamil Nadu, 22 from Andhra Pradesh, 3 from Kerala, 2 from Puducherry and one from Sri Lanka. Eight unidentified bodies are kept at the Ernakulam General Hospital.

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has announced a compensation of five lakh rupees each to the kin of those killed in the mishap and fifty thousand rupees to those who were seriously injured. He said, those who sustained minor injuries will be given 25,000 rupees. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has also announced one lakh rupees each as compensation to the next of the kin of the stampede victims from the state. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has already announced a relief of one lakh rupees each to the next of kin of those killed in the stampede and 50,000 rupees to those injured from the Prime Minister’s relief fund.