06 March,2011 08:31 AM IST | | Rinkita Gurav
Bashir Mulla, a fire brigade official who sustained fractures in both his ankles has been admitted to Bhabha Hospital. He wouldn't have reached here had the residents allowed the firemen to do their job, he laments. "The mob was uncontrollable, and got aggressive. They snatched the water pipes from our hands," he says.u00a0
On a bed next to him lies 24 year-old Mahtab, a resident of Garib Nagar who hurt himself while trying to douse the fire by snatching a pipe from a fireman. "All I was doing was trying to help put out the fire."
A fire official on condition of anonymity admitted that the crowd prevented them from doing their job. "They threw stones at the firemen, and got onto the fire engine ladders," he said.
Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar said, "Sometimes, the mob disrupts the functioning of fire officials. But the firemen carried out their job well. The reason for the fire is not yet known but there were a series of six cylinder blasts that led to a rapid spread."
