Misty eyes, trembling hands and forlorn looks made for a poignant scene as public and parents of children who lost their lives at the inferno that ravaged Sri Krishna Nursery and Primary School here 12 summers ago relived the memories of their beloved ones at the anniversary observed at the memorial here on Saturday.
As many as 94 children were charred to death exactly the same day in 2004 when the thatched roof of the Sri Krishna School at Kasiraman Street went up in flames. Another 18 suffered burns in the incident that shook the officialdom and the public alike leading to a series of measures by the State government to prevent recurrence of the incident and to put in place minimum safety measures in schools.
Special events were held in front of the site where the school stood and also at the Palakkarai area where a memorial has been raised in memory of the unfortunate child victims.
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A digital flex board bearing the images of the victims was put up near the school premises and in front of which the hapless parents and relatives lit candles, laid wreaths and placed flowers in respectful homage. Those who escaped the fire fury then joined the memorial event.
Parents of the child victims took out a silent procession from the school premises to the memorial at Palakkarai area, where again wreaths were placed.
In the evening, parents and their relatives went on a procession through Madathu Theru and Gandhi Park to the Mahamaham Tank where a ‘Moskha Deepam’ was lit in the memory of the victims.
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On behalf of the State government, Kumbakonam Sub Collector Mantri Govinda Rao, Tahsildar Karthikeyan, Kumbakonam Municipal Chairman in-charge Raja Natarajan, Commissioner Uma Maheswari and others participated in the memorial meets.
Political party leaders also paid their respects to the fire victims.
Candlelight homage, procession to Mahamaham Tank mark 12th anniversary of the tragedy