Victims’ family ‘expose’ 1122’s shortcomings

Rescue service dismisses accusations of negligence, says probe body to look into the matter

RAWALPINDI: Families of the five people who had died in an inferno in Rawalpindi’s Satellite Town two days ago have ‘exposed’ the inadequacies of the city’s emergency services, accusing them of watching the blaze like spectators.

Rescue 1122 officials, however, have dismissed the accusations of negligence, reiterating that their staff was assaulted by locals.

On Tuesday afternoon, at least four women, including bride-to-be Sana Tariq, died of smoke inhalation after a fire erupted in her home.

Addressing a news conference outside the house in question in Block A of Satellite Town on Thursday, the family of the deceased claimed that precious lives could have been saved if rescue workers worked in a timely manner.

Chaudhry Nasir, Sana’s uncle, said that they were supposed to have been enjoying the wedding of the 24-year-old on Wednesday instead of burying her.

The family members claimed that the fire tenders arrived 15 minutes after the incident had been reported. Moreover, when they arrived, the firefighters did not have ladders to climb up to the windows. Detailing the apparent apathy of the fire department,  they claimed that firefighters held on to the hose with one hand and used the other to hold down their masks since it lacked rubber lining to create an effective seal against the intense smoke.

Rescue 1122 crumbling under administrative issues

Such was the poor state of the firefighting equipment that when the water pressure was increased, one of the hoses just flew off the fire tender since there was no locking mechanism in place, the families claimed.

And when the unconscious girls were finally found, the family members claimed that the rescue teams neither had stretchers nor any first aid equipment. As a result, the bodies had to be shifted out by residents by wrapping them up in bed sheets. With no ambulances present, they had to use their cars to transfer the unconscious girls to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH). The BBH administration, though, directed the families to take the girls to the Holy Family Hospital (HFH).

HFH, though, also allegedly refused to treat the women, claiming that it was not their case as the girls had died of suffocation and not burns.

They also contradicted the Rescue 1122, claiming that only four had died while the fifth was still battling for her life in the hospital.

Even though senior government figures sit only miles away in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Nasir complained that none of them had reached out to them yet as he took digs at Rawalpindi lawmakers Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hasan Chauhan.

Claiming that they were taxpayers, Nasir wondered what happened to the poor if such a tragedy befell them.

The families urged the prime minister, the chief justice and the army chief to take strict action against those who showed negligence during the rescue operations.

Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 categorically rejected the allegations levelled by the families of the victims, adding that an initial inquiry into the matter had revealed that there was no negligence on their part even as the service expressed full sympathy and that they were with the aggrieved family in this moment of grief.

The official added that the first call of the incident came through at 12:38pm. Responding to the call, two fire tenders were immediately dispatched. Each of these fire tenders carries 500 litres of water. The Rescue 1122 officer further said that their senior officers were assaulted by the gathered public. However, the officer said that despite that they bore no grudge over it since it is part and parcel of their job.

The officer further said that they tried their utmost to rescue everyone.

Moreover, the officer said that on the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, an investigation committee will also probe the matter. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2019.