And This Thursday, a large fire devastated a large house in the historic center of Lima, just a few meters from the iconic Plaza San Martín, epicenter of the great anti-government demonstration in the Peruvian capital.
During hours, The demonstrators confronted the Police deployed in the area and they made it go back until they left Plaza San Martín, when the flames began to destroy the building, still unidentified, in a sector with many historic houses built in part with wood.
The General Corps of Volunteer Firefighters of Peru (CGBVP) on Thursday urged the protesters protesting in the historic center of Lima to liberate the area and make way for their units to put out the large fire that devastated a house located a few meters from the iconic Plaza San Martín. “We ask the public to support us, (to) let our support units pass,” the CGBVP general commander, Luis Ponce La Jara, said in statements to Channel N.
as long as clashes increased on the nearby avenue La Colmena, It was seen that the flames began to appear on the roof of the large building located a few meters from the square, which led to the deployment of the Police and members of the health system to attend to the emergency.
Units from the volunteer fire stations located a few meters from the scene quickly arrived, including a large telescopic ladder, which began to fight the fire. The general commander of the fire brigade, Luis Ponce La Jara, declared to the América Televisión network that “originally it is an empty building”, but he said that they proceeded to “evacuate the neighbors to prevent a greater misfortune from occurring”.
“It is a historic building and the construction material is thatch (an old cane or bamboo framework covered with mud), they are quickly flammable,” he said. “We ask the public to support us, (to) let our support units pass” from other Lima companies, he said.
The fire chief added that they are “at work” and have not yet verified “if there are people who have suffered a mishap”, although local media showed images of residents rushing out of neighboring buildings with personal belongings.
The “taking of Lima”
Thousands of Peruvians from various parts of the country gathered this Thursday in the capital in the so-called “taking of Lima” to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress and express their weariness for the neglect of the State that they consider they suffer.
“We demand that this (de) facto government leave. Usurper (referring to Boluarte), we do not want more of our compatriots to continue dying. We are not in a civil war and yet he is killing our brothers. We don’t want a civil war,” Víctor Pérez told EFE.
Pérez, who was walking along the central Avenida Abancay, affirmed that the current executive has not been elected by the people, so it is not legitimate and whoever is, is Pedro Castillo, the former president currently detained and dismissed after his failed self-coup.
The march, called by unions and various groups, began peacefully before 4 in the afternoon local time (9:00 p.m. GMT), but soon there were clashes between protesters and police who formed large barriers to prevent the passage to avenues with public institutions.
“We are protesting peacefully and we find it outrageous that they do not let us go to (the wealthy neighborhood of) Miraflores. It is the last straw that the gentlemen of Miraflores do not let us protest against this dictatorship because they simply realize that it favors them. It favors all power groups in the country. In Peru we are living a dictatorship,” a protester with a national flag in her hands told EFE.
Thousands of people marched with a strong police presence through the center of Lima with the aim of reaching the aforementioned Miraflores neighborhood in the next few hours. The protesters, many of them dressed in Peruvian flags and the wiphala, frequently used by some indigenous communities, also demand new elections for 2023 and the calling of a constituent assembly.