By the evening of Sunday, October 29, one more woman died of burn injuries from the explosions at a convention centre in Kalamassery in Kochi of Kerala. Kumari, a 53-year-old native of Thodupuzha in Idukki, who had taken part in the convention, passed away after suffering more than 90% burns from the blast. Three back to back explosions had taken place at the Zamra Convention Centre in Kalamassery where a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses -- a sect that identifies as Christian but does not follow beliefs of mainstream Christians -- was happening.
Kumari's passing takes the death toll to two. Another woman, as yet unidentified, was reported dead soon after the blasts. More than 30 people were hospitalised out of which 18 were admitted at Intensive Care Units of various hospitals. Health Minister Veena George had said that the conditions of six people were critical, and three of them were on ventilator support. This included a 12-year-old child.
Earlier in the evening, a Kochi native called Dominic Martin approached the police to claim responsibility for the explosions. Before surrendering to the police, he had posted a video, saying that he was a member of the cult for years but was increasingly disillusioned by their teachings which he found to be problematic and anti-national.
Read: Man claims responsibility for Kerala blasts, says he is ex-Jehovah's Witness
The police have not yet given a statement about Dominic. Earlier on Sunday, Director General of Police (DGP) Shaik Darvesh Saheb told the media that Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were used for the explosions.
Eye-witnesses that TNM spoke to said that they were praying with their eyes closed when the explosions happened. More than 2,000 people had taken part in the event. Fire force and police personnel got to the spot along with senior officials and the survivors were taken in buses to hospitals or homes.
Read: We were praying with eyes closed when blasts occurred: Kalamassery devotees