Drill turns disastrous, one dead

An ITBP jawan is crushed to death by a fire tender during a mock fire-fighting exercise, reports Sanjeev K Ahuja.

An ITBP jawan was crushed to death by a fire tender during a mock fire-fighting exercise conducted at the DT City Centre Mall on MG Road on Friday.

HT Image

Ramanand Negi and eight other ITBP jawans were lying, feigning unconsciousness, between a tanker loaded with liquid chemical — which all those taking part had to pretend was ‘leaking’ — and a truck containing LPG cylinders. The ITBP had lit two smoke candles to simulate smoke coming out of the chemical tanker.

Gurgaon Senior Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi said: “The driver of the fire tender that was called in to douse the mock ‘fire’ did not see the person lying at the drill site, probably because of the smoke, and ran over him. It is a case of negligence and we have registered a case against the driver.” Negi, 30, hailed from Himachal Pradesh.

The National Disaster Management Authority and district administration officials, who organised the event along with a dozen other agencies termed the drill “successful” and said the incident was only an “accident”.

DS Sangwan, deputy commandant, ITBP, however, said: "It is a clear case of negligence — not merely an accident. The idea of introducing the fire tender during the chemical-leakage drill was not in the original plan.”

Email Sanjeev K Ahuja: skahuja13@gmail.com