Uncertainty looms over Lima’s garment district, Gamarra.
Living in Peru, Peru
(LIP-jl) — With only two weeks left until the Christmas shopping season comes to an end, the fire chief of the 4th Departmental Command of the Lima Fire Department – Downtown Station, cautioned holiday shoppers who plan to do their shopping at Gamarra this Christmas season.
According to Mesarina, the popular shopping emporium is a virtual time-bomb. Thousands of Limeans crowd its vehicle-free streets while pushing and shoving their way towards Gamarra´s galleries who offer attractive low prices. Building code violations, clandestine wiring, and a lack of evacuation plans are common place, he affirmed.
Mesarina reminded citizens of the tragedy at Mesa Redonda, another popular shopping area in downtown Lima, where nearly 300 people lost their lives. The conditions in Gamarra are strikingly similar to those of Mesa Redonda prior to the tragedy which occurred during the 2002 Christmas shopping season.
In the event of a tragedy, shoppers at Gamarra would have great difficulty evacuating the area because of gates that were implemented to curb theft, declared Mesarina.
“Merchants installed these gates to protect themselves from thieves without realizing the problems that could occur during an emergency,†he stated.
