Firemen disappointed over relief

Even as the State Government announced ₹25 lakh solatium to the families of the deceased, firemen have expressed their anguish through social media about the amount of relief being given.

Two firemen – Krishnamoorthy, a 2013-batch fireman from Tiruppuvanam, and Sivarajan, who belonged to 2009 batch, a father of two small sons – were killed in the fire accident reported in the early hours of Saturday.

“While a policeman, who was killed in a bomb attack few months back in Thoothukudi, was given ₹ 50 lakh, why should firemen, who sacrificed their lives during the call of duty be discriminated against,” one of them said.

Meanwhile, the Director (Fire and Rescue) has instructed the officials to inspect all the textile shops in the city to check their stability and whether they had installed minimum fire-fighting equipment/system in place.

An official said that textile shops were over stocking inflammable materials and were also keeping them on the staircase, in violation of fire safety rules.