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Originally posted by PacHead: I am not doubting that fire codes and safety measures are probably terrible in that part of the world, however I'm saying the cowardly, murderous actions of some teachers are very much to blame also, most likely. No teachers died, and a senior fire officer said it was because they abandoned the children and ran from the burning school. |
I don't want to jump to conclusions. I'm as disgusted by the outcome of this tragedy as you are, but fire can move so quickly that the teachers wouldn't have had any time to react. The building had a thatched-roof supported by bamboo: that's not exactly fire-resistant material.
My guess is that the teachers briefly convened outside to discuss the situation, and then found that they couldn't get back to their classrooms in time to save some of their children. Regular fire drills might've prevented this fatal error.
The best way to minimize fire casualties is to prevent fires in the first place. India has a very corrupt civil service, and this is but one example of the consequences of lax building inspections. The U.S. has also seen its share of fire tragedies, which is why we now have such strict building/fire codes.
http://www.general-slocum.com/0acc.htm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...501_river5.html
http://www.ezl.com/~fireball/Disaster.htm