52 hospitalised, 6 critical after Kerala blasts: Health minister

In the latest health update from Kerala health minister Veena George after multiple explosions in Christian convention centre Kalamassery on Sunday, she said, after the blasts 52 people have been hospitalised. 18 are critically injured and 6 are in critical condition. One person was killed in the explosion. Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the investigation of the blast. A National Security Guard (NSG) team has also been dispatched to the spot from the national capital.

“52 people have been admitted to different hospitals. 30 people are admitted here, out of which 18 are in ICU and 6 are critically injured, among those 6, one is a 12-year-old child,” Kerala health minister Veena George said. “The rest of the injured are in other private hospitals…the dead person has not been identified yet,” she further said.

Multiple blasts rock Convention Centre in Kalamassery  

One person died and several more were injured after multiple explosions took place at a prayer meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Kalamassery area of Kerala's Kochi on Sunday morning, police said. Kalamassery CI Vibin Das said the first explosion took place around 9 a.m. and multiple blasts followed thereafter, over the next hour.

Sunday was the last day of the three-day meeting, which started on October 27. According to officials, more than 2,000 people were attending the prayer meeting when the blasts took place. The incident came a day after the former chief of the terrorist group Hamas, Khaled Mashal, virtually addressed a pro-Palestine protest amid the Israeli military offensive in Gaza.

Reacting to the participation of the Hamas leader in the protest on Saturday, Israel's ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, posted from his X handle, "Mashal calls participants to: Take the streets and show anger, prepare for jihad (against Israel), support Hamas financially, promote Palestinian narrative on social media, it's time to add #HamasISIS to #India's terror list."