"These illegal warehouses must be closed definitively as soon as possible. We must all join forces to completely disrupt the mafias that operate in Mesa Redonda. This cannot happen again," he said from the area of the incident.
The Cabinet member denounced that this zone has been hit by various mafias which have subdivided public spaces for illicit ambulatory commerce, used as illegal warehouses to store merchandise.
On the other hand, the high-ranking official praised the quick reaction of firefighters who managed to contain the fire quickly and effectively.
After supervising the arduous efforts by members of the
General Corps of Volunteer Firefighters of Peru (CGBVP), Minister Guillen reported that 400 police agents arrived at the scene to maintain control and cordon off the area so as to prevent the entry of people and facilitate the work of men and women in red uniform.
Furthermore, the government official questioned the fact that clandestine constructions go on at Mesa Redonda commercial premises, saying that these might be one of the causes of the incident which —fortunately— did not generate deaths or wounded people.
"It is not possible to illegally build warehouses where highly flammable material such as plastic is being stored. That must stop," he emphasized.
In this sense, Guillen affirmed that there should be greater supervision by the local government to prevent events like this from continuing to happen or even tragedies, such as the one that occurred in the same area 20 years ago, when more than 200 people died and over 500 became injured.