Explosion at Christians prayer meeting in India left some killed and wounded

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – An explosion at a Christian prayer meeting in the southern Indian state of Kerala has killed one person and wounded at least 36.

The blast took place as hundreds of followers of the Jehovah’s Witnesses denomination gathered for prayer on Sunday morning at a convention centre in Kalamassery town in Ernakulam district.

Videos filmed shortly after the explosion and posted online showed flames inside the building and rescuers helping people clear out.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses sect of Christianity is known for its worldwide practice of door-to-door evangelism. The movement teaches non-violence and stays politically neutral, with members refusing to vote or serve in the military.

India, with a population of 1.4 billion, has only about 60,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses followers, its adherents say. There are about 28 million Christians in India, as per the 2011 census.

A section of local media reported that there were three separate blasts at the prayer gathering, each hitting different areas of the convention hall.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses sect, founded in the United States in the 1870s, has frequently been the victim of persecution around the world.

In Russia, the movement has been branded as an “extremist” group despite its pacifist views, and hundreds of its followers have been arrested in recent years.

In March, an armed man killed seven people in Hamburg, Germany at a Jehovah’s Witnesses prayer hall.