A tragedy of errors

Of course, a minister did arrive every five minutes to inspect the scene and the well-equipped British team with sniffer dogs and long, fibre-optic scopes was also at hand. But how many people they did retrieve, we never came to know. It is time the disaster management teams, if there are any in this country, are separated from the lousy district administration and police set ups.

They must have their own fire brigades, ambulances, explosive experts, doctors, mobile operation theatres, etc, etc. They must also be given abundant funds and requisite administrative power. Otherwise, we will keep seeing repeat performances of F10 Tower and Marriott Hotel on our TV screens. -M. SHAIKH, Islamabad, via e-mail, September 21.