Illegal construction and alterations made to the Carlton Towers converted the building into a smoke chamber with no escape routes, killing nine persons.
The fire in the electrical duct was so minor that it was extinguished by the mist technology equipment carried on two motorcycles and a lone water tender, according to a report by the fire and emergency services department.
Seven people, who found the only escape route, followed it and jumped off the building to their deaths, while two others, trapped and helpless, died of asphyxiation.
The alternative power system installed in the building, meant to illuminate corridors, staircases and also to power the lifts, failed.
The dense smoke moved upward in the beginning and then horizontally to every floor, as the occupants of the building had tampered with the sealing of the duct, apparently to lay additional cables, the report said.
Lives could have been saved if the escape routes were clearly marked. When the fire department issued an NOC on April 3, 1993, the escape route markings were in place. However, the markings were missing on February 23.
Of the three staircases, two were closed on the ground floor level. Doors providedat staircase landings to prevent smoke from travelling upward or horizontally were also locked.
The common passage between the staircases at second, third and fourth floor levels were blocked. “This prevented the occupants of the upper floors from moving to smoke-clear areas,” the report said.
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