A view of a collapsed building after a massive fire broke out during a fireworks display at the Puttingal temple complex in Paravoor village, north of Thiruvananthapuram, southern Kerala state, India,... (Associated Press) 
 
 A view of a collapsed building after a massive fire broke out during a fireworks display at the Puttingal temple complex in Paravoor village, north of Thiruvananthapuram, southern Kerala state, India, Sunday, April 10, 2016. Dozens were killed and many more were injured when a spark from an unauthorized... (Associated Press) 
 
 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (AP) — Rescue officials on Monday sifted through a Hindu temple in southern India where at least 110 people died when a fireworks display - an unauthorized pyrotechnic display that went horribly wrong - swept through a temple packed with thousands for a religious festival. 
 
 The death toll so far from the pre-dawn fire on Sunday at the Puttingal Devi temple complex in the village of Paravoor, stood at 110 people with more than 380 others hurt, said police officer, Unnikrishnan. 
 
 Scores of devotees ran in panic as the massive initial blast cut off power in the complex, while other explosions sent flames and debris raining down, a witness said. Many people were trapped. 
 
 "It was complete chaos," said Krishna Das of Paravoor. "People were screaming in the dark. Ambulance sirens went off, and in the darkness no one knew how to find their way out of the complex." 
 
 The fire started when a spark from the fireworks show ignited a separate batch of fireworks stored in the temple complex, said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the top elected official in Kerala state. 
 
 Police were searching for 15 members of the temple board who fled after the accident. Police were investigating for possible charges of culpable homicide, punishable with life imprisonment, and illegally storing a cache of explosives. 
 
 Most of the 110 deaths occurred when the building where the fireworks were stored collapsed, Chandy told reporters. More than 80 bodies have been identified, officials said. TimesNow, an Indian television news channel, put the death toll at 112. 
 
 Das said ambulances carried the injured to hospitals in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Paravoor, as well as the nearby city of Kollam. 
 
 Villagers and police pulled many of the injured out from under slabs of concrete and twisted steel girders. 
 
 TV channels showed video of huge clouds of white smoke billowing from the temple, as fireworks were still going off in the sky. 
 
 One of the explosions sent huge chunks of concrete flying as far as a kilometer (half a mile), said Jayashree Harikrishnan, another resident. 
 
 Rescuers searched the wreckage for survivors, while backhoes cleared debris and thousands of worried relatives went to the temple to search for loved ones. 
 
 The temple holds a competitive fireworks show every year, with different groups putting on displays for thousands gathered for the end of a seven-day festival honoring the goddess Bhadrakali, a southern Indian incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali. 
 
 This year, however, authorities in Kollam district had denied temple officials permission to hold the fireworks display, said A. Shainamol, the district's top official. 
 
 "They were clearly told that no permission would be given for any kind of fireworks," Shainamol told reporters. 
 
 Permission was denied over fears the competing sides would try to outdo each other with more and more fireworks and because the temple gets overcrowded during the festival, she said. 
 
 Anitha Prakash, said she and some other residents have been trying since 2012 to stop the fireworks display which goes on for hours. "We petitioned state authorities this year also. Some of the organizers threatened my family with harm if I continued with my campaign," she told reporters. 
 
 Chandy, the state's chief minister, said he had appointed a retired judge to investigate the events leading to the fire and that action would be taken against those who had ignored rules. 
 
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew in from New Delhi to visit the site and met with Chandy and other Kerala leaders on measures to help the survivors. 
 
 ___ 
 
 George reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writer Katy Daigle in New Delhi contributed to this report. 

 Debris of damaged structures lie on a wall decorated with a motifs of Hindu goddess at the spot where a massive fire broke out during a fireworks display at the Puttingal temple complex in Paravoor village,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Debris of damaged structures lie on a wall decorated with a motifs of Hindu goddess at the spot where a massive fire broke out during a fireworks display at the Puttingal temple complex in Paravoor village, Kollam district, southern Kerala state, India, Monday, April 11, 2016. Rescue officials on Monday... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARAVOOR, India (AP) — Medical teams on Monday tended to hundreds of people injured in a massive fire that killed at least 110 people, while authorities searched for those responsible for illegally putting on the fireworks display that caused the weekend blaze at a Hindu temple in southern India. 
 
 Amid the burned wreckage of the Puttingal Devi temple complex in the village of Paravoor, rescue officials sifted through huge piles of dust, wood and concrete for clues about how an unauthorized pyrotechnic display staged before dawn Sunday sparked a fire that swept through the temple as it was packed with thousands for a religious festival. 
 
 Police detained five workers for questioning about fireworks stored at the site, hoping to learn more about who owned the fireworks and who had contracted the pyrotechnical display, police constable R. Unnikrishnan Nair said. The five were later released, but Nair did not say whether they were able to help authorities track down any of the 15 temple board members who fled after the accident. 
 
 The Press Trust of India news agency reported that police were investigating six people — missing temple board members and associates of firework contractors — for possible charges of attempted murder and culpable homicide, both punishable by life imprisonment, and illegally storing a cache of explosives. 
 
 As of Monday afternoon, the death toll from the disaster stood at 110, with more than 380 injured, including many with burn injuries and others hurt when an adjacent building storing fireworks collapsed, police said. 
 
 Following the fire, which broke out around 3 a.m. Sunday, villagers and police pulled many of the injured out from under slabs of concrete and twisted steel girders. They were taken to hospitals in the Kerala state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Paravoor, as well as the nearby city of Kollam. 
 
 Scores of worried relatives crowded the Kollam District Hospital on Monday, searching for loved ones still missing. 
 
 "We are just trying to calm them down so that they can give us the information, with which we can help them find their missing relatives," said K. Shijil, a help-desk worker at the hospital who was giving out emergency kits that included a towel, clothes, drinking water and cookies. 
 
 Among a throng of people crowding the help desk was Somraj, a gray-haired man in his 50s. He was looking for his son-in-law, Anu Lal, who had been watching the fireworks show with him when the disaster occurred. 
 
 "We were about to return home, when Anu said, 'Let's watch for a few more minutes,'" recalled Somraj, who like many in southern India goes by one name. "Then came this loud explosion, and everything went dark. I've been searching for him everywhere." 
 
 The fire started when a spark from the fireworks display ignited a stash of fireworks that had been stored at the temple complex. 
 
 Scores of devotees ran in panic as the massive initial blast cut off power in the complex. Flames trapped many devotees inside the compound. More explosions sent flames and debris raining down, with some chunks of concrete falling as far as 1 kilometer (half a mile) away, a witness said. 
 
 "It was complete chaos," villager Krishna Das said. "People were screaming in the dark. Ambulance sirens went off, and in the darkness no one knew how to find their way out of the complex." 
 
 TV channels showed video of huge clouds of white smoke billowing from the temple, as fireworks were still going off in the sky. 
 
 Most of the 110 deaths occurred when the building where the fireworks were stored collapsed, according to Kerala state's chief minister, Oommen Chandy. 
 
 Most of the bodies have been identified, officials said, though there were still at least 11 unknown victims charred beyond recognition. 
 
 District authorities worried about safety had denied permission to the temple this year for its annual competitive fireworks show, during which different groups put on displays at the end of a seven-day festival honoring the goddess Bhadrakali, a southern Indian incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali. 
 
 "They were clearly told that no permission would be given for any kind of fireworks," said A. Shainamol, the district's top official. She said officials had worried that the competing sides would try to outdo each other with more and more fireworks, and nearby residents had complained that the shows were a nuisance and a fire hazard. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Nirmala George and Katy Daigle in New Delhi contributed to this report.
– Rescue officials are sifting through a Hindu temple in southern India where at least 110 people died when a fireworks display—an unauthorized pyrotechnic show that went horribly wrong—swept through the temple packed with thousands for a religious festival. The death toll from the pre-dawn fire on Sunday at the Puttingal Devi temple complex in the village of Paravoor now stands at 110 people with more than 380 others hurt, a police spokesman says. Scores of devotees ran in panic as the massive initial blast cut off power in the complex, while other explosions sent flames and debris raining down, a witness says. Many people were trapped, reports the AP. Some chunks of concrete fell as far as half a mile away, a witness tells the AP. "We were about to return home, when [my son-in-law] said, 'Let's watch for a few more minutes,'" recalled a gray-haired man in his 50s. "Then came this loud explosion, and everything went dark. I've been searching for him everywhere." The fire started when a spark from the fireworks show ignited a separate batch of fireworks stored in the temple complex, says Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the top elected official in Kerala state. Police are searching for 15 members of the temple board who fled after the accident. They could face charges that include culpable homicide, which is punishable with life imprisonment, and illegally storing a cache of explosives.