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News > Peru

Peru: 13 People Suffocated in Nightclub During Police Raid

  • Police officers make a security cordon in front of the disco in Lima, Peru, August 22, 2020.

    Police officers make a security cordon in front of the disco in Lima, Peru, August 22, 2020. | Photo: Twitter/ @partidovivo

Published 23 August 2020
Opinion

Despite the ban imposed by the state of emergency, 120 people were inside the nightclub and they ran scared when they saw the agents. 

Peru's authorities confirmed that 13 people died of asphyxiation in a discotheque in Lima when police officers tried to evacuate the attendees of that clandestine party amid the COVID-19 restrictions.

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The tragedy occurred at 22h00 local time when the police entered the premises to proceed with the closure of the disco. Lima maintains a curfew ordered by the Peruvian government to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the Peruvian National Police (PNP), despite the ban imposed by the state of emergency, 120 people were inside the nightclub and they ran scared when they saw the agents. 

The race led to a stampede, causing many of the clandestine party attendees to fall to the ground and some to suffocate.

"The National Police confirmed that 13 people died when they left the discotheque in Los Olivos. The bodies are on trucks in front of the clinic. When the 120 people who attended the disco saw the agents, they tried to escape, causing a stampede."

PNP Director Orlando Velasco denied to Peruvian media that the troops had used tear gas or weapons. "The intervention was carried out at the request of the neighbors in the area," he explained.

Several witnesses have denounced that the police used tear gas bombs inside the premises.
 
Peru's Interior Ministry stated that six other people (including assistants and PNP members) were injured, while 23 others were detained.

Proceedings are underway to identify the owners of the discotheque and those responsible for what happened so that the Public Prosecutor's Office can request their preventive detention.

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