BANGALORE: A mock fire drill on Friday morning turned fatal for a 23-year-old woman. The drill, conducted by the fire and emergency services department, mocked every aspect of safety.

Social welfare officer

, employed with

at Yeshwantpur, was killed when the rope she was using to come down from the third floor of the factory building snapped, hurtling her to the ground 15 feet below. Making a mockery of its preparedness to handle emergencies, the fire brigade had no net in place when it asked the factory’s employees to come down the third floor using a rope.

Nalini, who worked in the Peenya facility, had come to the Goraguntepalya unit near RMC Yard, Yeshwantpur, after hearing about the mock drill. She volunteered to take part in the drill. The mock drill began at 10.30am with a couple of exercises and lectures. Fire brigade officials then moved to practical lessons A rope was tied to the window of a third-floor room. The officials asked the employees to volunteer and descend to the ground using the rope. A chair knot that binds the volunteer from the neck down to the stomach was used. Ravikumar, an employee, successfully landed on the ground first.

Nalini volunteered to go down next. As 200-odd onlookers stood on the ground and watched the exercise, the officials tied Nalini in a chair knot. Nalini began descending but halfway through the rope snapped, sending her plunging to the ground.

She was rushed to hospital where doctors declared her brought dead. “Nalini sustained head injuries and a cervical fracture,” doctors told police.

Hailing from Siddavanahalli in Gowribidanur of Chikkaballapur district, Nalini was to marry in April to a man from her native place.