tenants' negligence caused damage, are they responsible?

[Chootar Laal]

i had 2 tenant (house mates) call me early morning one day complaining why i hadn't fixed the leak in the kitchen yet. this caught me by surprise as i did not know about it.
after a few minutes of the conversation, i realized they had decided to email me about the leak the night before instead of calling my cell or even texting, so the water had been leaking for almost 9 hours now. this gross negligence caused water damage downstairs.

can i hold them responsible and deduct it out of their security deposit? im in MA.