Real Plaza
Real Plaza is a mall located in Trujillo, Peru. It was introduced to the public on November 15th, 2007. The mall was ordered to close in December of 2023, due to structural deficiencies.
What Exactly Happened?
On February 21st, 2025, over 80 people, including at least 11 children, were injured around 8:40 pm because of the mall’s iron roof collapsing. Peru’s Defense Minister Walter Astudillo said, as of February 23rd, 6 people have died in the collapse. Defence Minister Walter Astudillo said at a news conference that 5 of them died on-site, and another person at a hospital after the tragedy. He also shared that 30 of the injured people have already been discharged from the hospital.
Authorities and experts believe that rain and humidity weakened the overall structure of the mall. Emergency services were called and the head of the local fire department, Luis Roncal, said rescuers “did not find any signs of life” when they were monitored rescue dogs, and said the search for any survivors was going to continue nonetheless. At the play area, children were victims to the heavy iron roof that collapsed on top of them.
Citizens, public figures, and emergency service workers have expressed with disappointment and frustration over the lack of resources and the whole search in general. Rescue dogs were on site, but were reportedly unable to clearly hear the victims because of nearby nightclubs that were still open, even an hour later than their own closing time. Also, when the first cranes went to the site, it was later discovered that it was not suitable for lifting the heavy debris from the collapse.
Honoring their Memory
The Peruvian government has declared days of mourning as the 21st and the 23rd of February, and ordered flags to be raised at half way on the flagpole, to honor the victims. All malls and shopping centres would be closed as well. Mario Reyna, the mayor of Trujillo, announced the closure of Real Plaza “due to imminent risk,” and said his government wanted to start inspections on other malls and shopping centres.
The Aftermath…
The President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, was later criticized after she spoke about the tragedy 12 hours after. In her speech, she used only a minute of it to speak about the collapse. The owners of the Real Plaza said that they have rolled out an independent investigation into the collapse. Eyewitnesses at the site reported hearing a loud bang just before the mall’s roof collapsed.
Here’s What People Had to Say…
“This incident is absolutely heartbreaking especially children being in danger, some even dying, from having a mall roof collapse on them.” – A Highlander here at DMHS.
“It is crazy how a mall like this can collapse so easily due to something as simple as weather. Even with that being said I think they should have taken more precautions when building a mall like this in that kind of weather. They should have been heavily inspected more often and also should have made better decisions to prevent this from happening. Hopefully everyone who was injured are okay, and condolences to those who have died. Situations like this really put into perspective how anything can happen to anyone because I’m sure that day no one thought the roof would fall and they would end up in this much danger.” – Another Highlander shared.
“My opinion regarding this serious tragedy is I hope that from today, the construction companies have more care and more responsibility to save more lives that are being lost to cases like these; and that God bless all the families who lost children and loved ones, and do justice.” – A Worcester Resident explained.
What are your thoughts? Share them by clicking the comment button on the right-hand side. My condolences to the ones greatly affected by this horrible tragedy. May the children and loved ones we’ve lost rest in peace. Tune in for more articles.
Sources:
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- https://oncenoticias.digital/internacional/colapso-en-el-real-plaza-trujillo-deja-muertos-y-heridos-en-peru/443582/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Plaza_Trujillo
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/peru-roof-mall-collapse-1.7466094
- https://www.voanews.com/a/dead-78-injured-after-roof-of-peru-shopping-mall-collapses/7984708.html
