‘Fire dept-police rivalry hurt rescue’

Rivalry between New York’s police and Fire Departments and conflicting advice from emergency teams on September 11, 2001, hampered effo...

Rivalry between New York’s police and Fire Departments and conflicting advice from emergency teams on September 11, 2001, hampered efforts to save lives as the Twin Towers collapsed, the Commission investigating the attacks said on Tuesday.

The panel, meeting near from the former site of the WTC, said the ‘‘long-standing rivalry’’ between the two departments meant they considered themselves ‘‘operationally autonomous’’ and failed to work together. ‘‘This rivalry has been acknowledged by every witness,’’ a Commission report read at the public hearing said.

While some evacuees were told to return to their offices, others were told to leave. Faced with choking black smoke, insufferable heat and no prospect of relief, some of the trapped people jumped from the building, the report said.

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To help analyse what went wrong on 9/11, the commission presented footage of the day nearly 3,000 people, including around 343 firefighters and 23 police officers, died in the attacks. The videos also included statements from fire and police officials on duty that day. The report said rescue efforts were also hampered by communications equipment that was damaged in the attacks or was not ‘‘interoperable’’ between departments. This meant rescue teams had little idea what was going on on other floors, in other buildings, or outside.

The Commission report said rescue officials did not anticipate the towers would collapse, and certainly not so quickly. ‘‘We didn’t have a lot of information coming in. We didn’t receive any reports from what was seen from the helicopters,’’ said Joseph Pfeifer, a New York Fire Department official. — (Reuters)

Amid India’s push to extradite Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, British officials visit Tihar jail to inspect conditions

British officials inspect Tihar jail as India pushes to extradite Mallya, Nirav Modi

Cities6 hr ago

A team from the British CPS visited Tihar jail to inspect inmate conditions and security, amidst India's efforts to extradite fugitives Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Sanjay Bhandari from the UK. They discussed setting up a specialized enclosure for high-profile prisoners and addressed concerns about violence within the jail. As of 2024, India has made 178 extradition requests to various countries.

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