Woman falls to death during mock fire drill

BANGALORE: A 22-year-old woman fell to her death during a mock drill conducted by the Department of Fire Services at a garment factory in Yeshwantpur on Friday morning. No safety net was used during the exercise.Nalina Reddy (22), a welfare officer from the design creation department at the Bombay Rayon Fashion Ltd, agreed to be tied around her waist with the rope to enact a fire rescue exercise from the third floor of the factory.The department was creating awareness on fire safety and the exercise pertained to a scene were people stuck in a building on fire were being rescued.While she was being lowered to “safety”, the rope, which was tied round her waist, snapped and she fell from the second floor.She suffered severe head injuries and died on the spot.Nalina was immediately shifted to a nearby private hospital where she was declared brought dead.Officials’ Negligence?According to S R Kannan, the manager of the factory, “After the incident, we learnt that no proper equipment was being used and the department had not deployed a safety net.Senior officials, who were on the spot, vanished from the scene after the incident.We have lodged a complaint against the Fire Department officials.” Meanwhile, Director General of Police of Fire and Emergency Services Department, A R Infant termed the incident as “unfortunate” and said that strict action would be initiated against the errant staff after a thorough inquiry.“There are some guidelines to conduct mock drills and investigations will reveal whether the officer incharge had followed them or not.The police is the authority to investigate the case.However, an internal inquiry will be conducted into the issue and based on the report, further action will be taken,” he said.