Lima (Peru), Jan 29 : A fire swept through a private rehabilitation center for addicts in a poor part of Peru's capital on Saturday,killing 24 people and injuring 10 others, police said.
The blaze broke out around 9 am local time at the “God is Love” center for drug and alcohol addicts in Zarate district in eastern Lima. The cause of the fire is still not known, said Zarate police chief Clever Zegarra.
Gianfranco Huerta, a youth who was being treated at the center, told local newsradio station RPP that he jumped from the second floor of the center to escape the fire.
Huerto said that he was having breakfast when he saw the flames coming from the first floor. “The doors were locked, there was no way to get out,” he told the radio station.
Zegarra said the 10 injured had been taken to various Lima hospitals. He said there were 24 deaths so far.
Local media reported that the “God is Love” rehabilitation center sought to treat addicts through Biblical teachings.
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