Collapse in Pataz: Authorities warned residents months ago about health risk

The tragedy in Pataz, located in the mountains of the La Libertad region, could be avoided, as announced last year by the National Institute of Civil Defence (Indeci) and the District Municipality of Parcoy. However, the villagers did not take into account the warnings.

An Indeci report, published in November 2021, warned that the origin of the collapses in the area is not due to mining activity, but to the Retamas River, which consumes the soil around it depending on the magnitude of the rainy season.

It should be noted that Retamas is a mining town where more than 3 thousand people live. Because the owners rent rooms to families, a four-story house can accommodate, on average, about 30 to 40 people.

For his part, the municipal manager of Parcoy, Miguel Sánchez Lázaro, said that the inhabitants have been living for more than 30 years in the marginal strip of the river. “It's not that the current local management hasn't given them the conditions to live elsewhere,” Sanchez said.

“Every year, in the rainy season, they come to the municipality asking for help because the land gives way, there are landslides, huaicos, just yesterday it rained all night. It is a problem that we cannot solve as a local government now. We have to relocate them,” he continued.

However, the municipal manager of Parcoy regretted that the population does not want to be transferred to another area because of the activities they maintain. “It's a complex issue,” he explained to Andina.

“Retamas no longer has a place to grow and here it is divided by peasant communities because of the same theme of mining activity, and one is not going to give up its land to another. We have every intention of relocating them, but they are already settled, they have an economic activity and mining is there, there will be opposition from the population,” he warned.

UPDATE ON THE COLLAPSE IN PATAZ

The landslide, mud and stones buried dozens of houses in the Retamas annex, located in the remote district of Parcoy, Pataz province, in the Libertad region. The event was recorded at 7:00 this morning and in the images that went viral three hours after the tragedy occurred, you can see the desperation of the inhabitants who saw how the landslide fell violently and swept away everything in its path.

In the latest update, Indeci confirmed the disappearance of eight people, including 3 minors. This morning resumes the rescue work that was suspended yesterday due to the difficulty and instability of the land where the collapse took place. According to Defense Minister José Luis Gavidia, in the area of the tragedy, housing constructions of up to 10 floors were found and many people refused to leave their homes despite the risk. “We have had a lot of difficulty evicting people, they didn't want to leave their homes,” he said.

Meanwhile, the new president of the Social Security of Health (EsSalud), Alegre Fonseca, sent the health brigade of the Peru Hospital to attend to those affected by the emergency. This response team is made up of 20 people, including doctors, nurses, medical technologists and nursing technicians, who will provide free health care to the insured and uninsured population affected by the landslide.

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