I think it sounds worse than the reality. As we know, as soon as the seatbelt sign goes off at the gate, everyone jumps up and grabs their bags. (People prefer to wait standing in the aisle than in a seat for some reason).
So if they are already standing up with bags in hand and then the evac command comes, it’s hardly surprising they took their bags with them. If everyone dropped them in the aisles it would have been considerably harder to make your way to the exit.