Prajakta Kasale mailbag@ mid- day. com A DAY after the Mumbai Fire Brigade rescued 17 residents of the Las Palmas society following a fire on the fifth floor on Wednesday, its chief has said the firefighting system of the building was not connected to an alternate electricity source.

He also attributed poor design of the building for the struggle his teams had to face while rescuing the people. The staircase passage turned into a death trap and residents could now leave the building as the absence of a barrier to prevent the smoke from spreading to other floors was missing.