MUMBAI: Indian police arrested two people on Tuesday (October 29) after fireworks at a temple triggered a violent explosion, leaving nearly a hundred people in hospital, including eight in critical condition.

Hundreds of people gathered around a Hindu temple in Nileshwaram in the southern state of Kerala on Monday evening to watch the fireworks, videos published by Indian newspapers showed.

Then, from inside a building, a wave of crackling sounds can be heard, before a powerful ball of flame rises high into the sky.

“About eight people are in critical condition and around 154 have been injured, including 97 people in hospital,” local police chief Shilpa Dyavaiah told AFP.

“They exploded firecrackers very close to where they stored the firecrackers,” Dyavaiah said, adding that sparks from the burst firecrackers reached the cache.

Indian media, citing officials, said the fire caused burns to the faces and hands of those present in a tightly packed crowd.