A few minutes before 7 am on Thursday, January 23, 2020, a fire broke out in the district of Villa El Salvador which cost the lives of 14 people and more than 40 wounded where the biggest victims are children. Many people lost their homes because of the fire.
It was said at first that the fire was caused due to the dismissal of a driver. The driver lost control of the vehicle by passing a drop in the area. As a result of the impact, the liquid gas escaped in the form of a white cloud covering the floor. The fire would have originated after the start of a car, resulting in the impending outbreak and the waves of fire. The fire was located between the avenues Edilberto Ramos and Villa del Mar district.
The incident affected about seven homes in the nearby area. After the first hours, they declared the first death of the accident. It was reported that the victim was the driver of the burning vehicle that would have died burned on the spot, also 51 injured by burns.
The president of the Republic approached the place where they took the injured to provide support to families victims of the fire. Given the number of people affected by the fire, the hospital could not cope with what resulted in several victims of the accident at the Hospital Guillermo II Kaelin de la Fuente, located in Villa María del Triunfo.
So far 14 deaths have been confirmed, including many minors, the driver and an unidentified body, EsSalud mentioned that there are several other children with burns of 80% and 90% of the body and that many units of blood. Given this, hundreds of people went to hospitals to offer their help with blood donation. Likewise, EsSalud also declared condolences to the families of the deceased.
(Update)
Responsibilities
Many of the apparent causes point to different public bodies that have disclaimed their responsibility. The tank vehicle would have been initially a heavy-duty vehicle that later, according to videos, would have been transformed into a tank truck to transport gases.
The same vehicle, which had received different ballots for violations on the routes, had already presented similar damage in 2018. It was related to escaped gases.
Organizations such as the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, Osinergmin, The Municipality of Lima, The Municipality of Villa María del Triunfo, among other public organizations, have not been responsible for the control of this type of adulterated vehicles and the companies that own them.