'There was only fire and smoke': Blast witnesses recount horror

It was 9:30 am, and like everyone else in the hall, VK Michael’s, hands were clasped, his eyes shut in prayer. For three days, close to 2,500 people at the Zamra International Convention Centre in Kalamassery, 20 km from Kochi, had followed the same routine. They had collected for a three-day zonal conference of the Christian group, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and it would always start at this time with a prayer that would last about two minutes.

- Vishnu Verma

Except on Sunday morning, one minute in, VK Michael was shaken by a terrifying blast. He opened eyes to a never-before-seen sight. “There was only fire and smoke in the hall. The blast took place in the middle of the centre where the console was placed. I was only five rows behind,” Michael, in his fifties, and dressed in a purple shirt and black cotton pants said.

Looking at the spot, he knew the damage was bad enough for there to be injuries. The only good thing, he will have thought, was that he had escaped.