Surat tragedy: Boy who jumped & survived says rescue ladders fell short

SURAT:“Gujarat has the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, but Surat’s Fire & Emergency Services department does not have ladders to rescue children from the second floor of a building,” says a 14-year-old boy who jumped off the third floor of Takshashila Arcade to save his life here on Friday.
The boy resides in Marigold Apartment, which is located 1km from Takshashila Arcade. He had joined Aloha Classes located on the third floor of Takshashila Arcade for coaching in mathematics. On black Friday, he had just arrived in the classes along with five of his batchmates and was waiting for their teacher. Suddenly, he noticed a teacher running in the lobby screaming loudly.
He and two of his batchmates came out of the classes only to witness fumes and flames in the staircase.
Since there was no possibility left for them to escape from the staircase, he went inside the classes and then towards the far end of the structure to jump out from the window.
“First, I threw my bag out. There were people standing on the ground who immediately caught my bag. Without giving a second thought, I came out of the window and jumped out. People standing on the ground caught me and I escaped unhurt. Even my spectacles were not damaged,” the boy said.
Coming down heavily on the fire department, he said, “I saw three fire tenders and the fire personnel making a futile attempt to extend their small ladders towards the fourth floor. The other fire tender went to the rear side to douse the fire with the cannon.”
He added, “Had the fire department brought in ladders of sufficient height, more children could have been saved from the fourth floor. In the absence of the ladders, children from the fourth floor jumped out thinking someone would catch them. The lucky few were caught by the people, others landed themselves in the hospital with injuries and a few died.”