The typically Indian crowd reaction to a tragedy was there for all to witness as people who heard about the fire and collapse of the building in Sumanahalli, rushed from nearby localities to hamper search and rescue operations by the firemen.
Remember the February 2010 Carlton tragedy? It were crowds that had gathered below which were to blame for the deaths as the onlookers goaded the victims to jump to escape the flames and fumes, besides hampering the firemen’s rescue operations.
Well, the story was no different here at Sumanahalli’s building fire and collapse site; except that there was no scope for goading people to jump.
But the typically Indian crowd reaction to a tragedy was there for all to witness as people who heard about the fire and collapse of the building in Sumanahalli, rushed from nearby localities to hamper search and rescue operations by the firemen.
DNA witnessed people who had gathered to watch the tragedy doing precious little — they were taking pictures on their mobile phones of the building collapsing after the blaze caused by LPG cylinders under the staircase of the stricken residential block exploded to cause the fires.
Forget the narrow lanes that generally obstruct fire engines from reaching the spots in congested areas. Actually this stricken building was right off the main road. The major obstruction was posed by the crowds that had gathered even as hapless firemen, struggling to look for people buried under the debris of the fallen building, shouted desperately to them to make way for the rescue operations.
Even those among the crowd who did rush to the aid of the firemen turned out to be a nuisance as they were unable to follow the fire drill that the firemen are so systematically trained in.
Ramesh Kumar, a fire personnel at the spot, said: “We always inform the people who gather at a fire incident in advance that there is no need for any extra assistance as we know that this would only lead to more people trying to help. They may be well-meaning gestures, but actually pose a hindrance. We follow a particular drill while saving people from such fires; not following the drill could lead to a problem. When people among the crowds rush to assist us, we actually compromise on that drill because they are not trained.”
He said although people are welcome to help in case of such fires, they should be at the command of the firemen, and try and do something on their own, which could also pose a threat to their own lives.
The firemen also had to deal with relatives of people who were buried trying to break through the cordon and rush towards the collapsed building to look for their dear ones themselves. This led to more problems for the police who were trying to keep the crowds at bay to allow the firemen to do their jobs.
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