70 homes destroyed in fire in the center of Bogota

The early hours of this Friday changed the lives of dozens of families, especially garbage pickers, who lived in the Ramírez neighborhood, an informal settlement on the eastern edge of downtown Bogotá, a complex with majestic views and poor urban conditions. There is an area of ​​slopes. , About 70 houses made of tin tiles, wood and some bricks in the so-called Ramirez neighborhood were affected by the fire. 30 of them have been completely destroyed. According to initial reports, there were no casualties in the incident.

Farms or huts that lacked basic public services, and less than a kilometer from Colombia’s presidential palace, the Casa de Nariño, burned after a gas cylinder exploded in the early morning. It took more than two hours to bring the fire under control after city firefighters arrived promptly. Finally, as the sun rose, the houses turned to ash and hot iron, and in some cases twisted. The survivors, no longer having a roof to shelter under, lamented and asked for help from the authorities and tried to see if they could salvage any of the few belongings they had. He has said that there are more than 200 people.

Jaime Castiblanco, operations coordinator of the Civil Protection in Bogotá, tells the medium that the fire department continues to work to determine the cases and the causes. He explains that, since there is a lot of recycling material in the neighborhood, it is likely that some oil or collected material caused the fire which then spread. In the late morning, Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán arrived at the scene and announced that he would bring food, kits for the night, and basic kitchen items. They also said that they will support the families by paying rent for up to 6 months. “So far, 22 families have been identified, but the number of affected properties is being verified,” he said.

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