FIRE ACCIDENT

It is sad to know that 17 people were killed in a fire accident, which was supposedly caused by an electric short-circuit (Two Telugus die in Delhi blaze, Feb. 13). The hotel management should be squarely blamed for this incident as it had not kept emergency exit gates open. If these gates were open and all other standard precautionary steps were taken, the fire could not have affected so many people. Aditya Bopparaju

Hyderabad

Fire takes no time to inflict heavy damages to lives and property. But there are several standard detection and prevention processes, which could have alerted people about the fire even before it engulfed the entire floor. The officials concerned must ensure all places where people visit implement fire safety measures.

G. Murali Mohan Rao

Secunderabad