Best interview question ever

Taken from an IIM student from Shillong. 

His name is sandeep

Here it goes:

This was one unique question I faced since it was no where related to management (in an IIM interview). The reason being , I discussed about administrative services in CD (Case based GD as well)

Panel members : P 
Candidate : S

P : Sandeep , you bought in a point about administration & you say you are a logical thinker as well. Let me put you in a situation

S: Okay sir .

P : You are the collector of a big unit like Lucknow. At morning 4am , you receive a call that there has been a bus accident and some people are killed as well as injured. Just when you were about to leave , you receive another phone call that some drunk people ( about 6–7) are drowning in the river. When you were just deciding what to do next, you receive one third call saying the nearest biggest cinema hall has caught fire , it’s almost like a pride for the city of Lucknow. You have just 1 minute to decide. What will be you plan of action ?

( I like puzzles. Every puzzle has some catch. For me, the catch here was he never really mentioned about any victims in the cinema hall. That was my Eureka moment ! )

S : Sir, my least priority would be the cinema hall. Since it’s 4am in the morning, it should be safe to assume there were no movies being played and it should be empty. Hence, my presence won’t change anything. I would dispatch fire emergency services there. 
Second would be the river drowning. Even if I go there, I don’t know swimming & hence won’t be of much value there. Hence I would send river search operation teams and be in touch with local authorities there. 
My highest priority would be bus accident since there would be a lot of chaos there. In case of deaths, people block roads which affect the general transport system. Hence the loss would be much higher here.

P : What if I say the cinema hall belonged to the most important politician of your state ?

S : Then , he himself would ensure everything since he would be more desperate to save his property. It’s not even a concern for me then !

Panel members laughing ! Verdict : Converted

Conclusion : In puzzles , devil lies in the details. Since I was very much cool about the interview (not much interested for IIMS) and he warned me that he is going to give a puzzle. I listened to his pointers carefully. That really helped ! 
Apologies if any variant has already been posted :)