Kumbakonam school fire tragedy still haunts parents

94 children were killed in the fire that occurred at Sri Krishna High School 10 years ago

July 17, 2014 01:56 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 10:51 pm IST - KUMBAKONAM:

“Forever in our hearts” – read a caption on a large flex board displaying photographs of the 94 children whose lives were snuffed out in the towering inferno at the Sri Krishna High School in Kumbakonam exactly a decade ago.

The photographs of the innocent victims on the mega board decked up with flowers and installed in front of the defunct school building on the Kasiraman street, moved even the passersby who paused for a moment taking a look at the photographs with a heavy heart.

Unable to control her grief, S. Jayalakshmi who lost her eight-year-old son Neelankandan in the tragedy weeps inconsolably staring at the photographs. “Enna Petha Amma,” she cries aloud beating her head and chest and faints. Years might have passed, but my son’s innocent face is still afresh in my memory. I left my son in the school on that fateful day only to learn about his death moments later,” she says unable to control her tears.

Similar was the feeling of other grief-stricken parents who had all assembled on the street, where a shamiana was erected, to pay floral tributes to their loved ones.

The parents lighted candles beneath the board and showered petals on the photographs one after the other. Many of them placed biscuit packets, chocolates, fruits and cake pieces under the board.

Ten years had passed since the accident occurred, nevertheless the tragedy continues to haunt the parents of the.

“July 16 is one date which I and the parents of the other 93 victims can never forget,” says Inbaraj who lost his two sons – Anandaraj (10) and Praveen Raj (8) in the tragedy.

The incident had completely shattered Inbaraj and wife Christy as they could only notice the charred bodies of their sons on that “Aadi” Friday in 2004. With the passage of time, the grief is supposed to wane. But, I have started feeling the pain even more now, says Inbaraj.

“Today my son would have been studying in a college had he been alive. But, the tragedy snuffed out his life,” said Mahesh whose son Vignesh perished in the fire.

It is not only the parents of the victims who paid floral tributes to their loved ones, but also the survivors of the tragedy, schoolchildren, residents of the town, legal fraternity and members of political parties.

The parents later went to the memorial established in memory of the children at Palakkarai and paid their tributes on the 10th anniversary.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.