MP: Bhopal authorities inspect coaching centres after Lucknow fire incident

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], June 23 (ANI): Authorities in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal on Tuesday conducted an inspection drive of coaching institutes following the fire in Lucknow facility in which 15 students lost their lives, with officials checking fire safety, ventilation and emergency exit issues at coaching centers.
Fire officer Saurabh Kumar Patel said the inspection drive was initiated in view of the recent incident reported in Lucknow, a hotel-related fire incident in Delhi and last year's tragedy at a Delhi coaching centre caused by waterlogging, where some students lost their lives.
"Following the incident in Lucknow yesterday and an earlier incident at a hotel in Delhi, as well as the tragic accident involving waterlogging at a Delhi coaching center last year, we activated our teams and carried out an inspection of coaching institutes today. We are checking basements, fire safety concerns and emergency exit gates," Patel told ANI.
He highlighted that one of the major issues identified was ventilation. They were paying special attention to the hoardings installed outside during the inspections.
"Our teams will carry out inspections in the MP Nagar area as well as in Bairagarh and Kolar locality," said the fire safety officer.

After conducting inspection at a coaching institute, fire officer Patel said that they observed some ventilation issues, and the emergency exits were also not properly arranged, adding that the fire safety system was installed and was operational as well. The main issue found was ventilation.
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According to eyewitnesses, panic gripped the building after the blaze erupted, prompting some occupants to attempt to escape through windows and other exits. ANI)