"Nalini died because there were no safety procedures followed by the fire officials," IGP (fire) N Shivakumar told the media, referring to the death of the garment factory worker who died on Friday.
"There was no safety net at the ground," he said. Nalini had fallen to her death from the third floor of the factory when the rope by which she was coming down snapped.
The drill was being conducted by the fire department in the premises of Bombay Rayon Fashion Limited in Peenya Industrial Area in north Bengaluru to test the preparedness of factory workers and fire officials during a fire.
Shivakumar also said a probe had been ordered into the incident and a report is expected to be submitted in a week.
The police department would draw up a standard operating operating procedure to conduct mock drills in future, he added.
Another fire department official said a recommendation would be sent to the state government for adequate compensation for the victim's family.
Nalini's death has been received with shock and anger in the online world. "Is it true that a young lady died in Bangalore during a mock fire drill? How cruel. A life-saving exercise turned fatal," said Giridharan Kesavan on Twitter, the online social networking service.
"It's ironic that they're called mock drills. The Bangalore drill was sheer mockery indeed," said another tweet from Pankaj Choudhary.
Another user wondered if such incidents could happen during a mock drill, how prepared the fire brigade is for actual situations.
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