At least thirteen people died and six others were injured, three of them policemen, when try to escape from a clandestine party in Lima after the arrival of the Peruvian National Police (PNP), which detained twenty-three people, the Ministry of the Interior reported early this Sunday.
The deaths occurred on Saturday night when many of the around 120 attendees at this party ran over each other and they were trapped and crushed between the entrance door to the premises and a staircase.
The Ministry of the Interior clarified in a statement that the police did not use weapons or tear gas at any time to vacate the premises where the party was being held, as residents of the area told local media.
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Despite the fact that the police intervention at this social gathering took place an hour before the night curfew began, which runs from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. local time, lhe family and social gatherings are prohibited as part of the measures dictated by the Government to prevent further COVID-19 infections.
A narrow outlet
The party took place on the second floor of a place called Thomas Restobar, located in the populous Lima district of Los Olivos, in the northern cone of Lima, where the Police went to calls from neighbors.
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Although the policemen expected to meet with a meeting of about 20 or 30 people, they found about 120 in a small spaceAccording to the general commander of the Police, Orlando Velasco, told the RPP Noticias station.
To avoid being arrested, the assistants tried to escape through the only staircase that led to the exit located on the lower floor and caused an avalanche where people were trapped on top of each other.
“At the end of the stairs there was a metal door that opened to the inside. In these circumstances people get nervous and some started to leave but the door was closed on them. All of them were trapped in desperation to get out, also our captain with two more policemen “Velasco narrated.
Unidentified deceased
Of the thirteen deceased, only one died at the scene of the events and the other twelve perished in the transfer to different clinics in the Peruvian capital, as detailed by the police general. All the fatalities are still in the process of identification.
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Velasco also said that the police had to use a vehicle with ropes to tear off the metal door and thus be able to free the deceased and the injured.
Since the social immobility measures began, police interventions at parties and social gatherings have been frequent, but never before had an event been registered with an attendance that exceeded fifty people.
Peru is the sixth country in the world and the second in Latin America with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus, accumulating more than 585,000 infections, and is close to becoming the country with the highest mortality rate, already exceeding 27,400 deaths from COVID-19.
EFE
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