SIGN UP FOR OUR By Wendy Anders
A view of the ravages from a weekend fire in Leon XIII, Tibás, as posted on Facebook.
At around midnight on Saturday, screams rang out in the Leon XII shanty town in San José’s densely populated district of Tibás as flames from an apparent arson act spread quickly through the makeshift abodes, reported police sources and local media.
Despite a rapid emergency response, the fire destroyed at least 300 homes and left 4 people dead, including one young child, said CRHoy.com, a Spanish digital news source.
The municipality of Tibás had set up and stocked two shelters last week in advance of Hurricane Otto as a preventive measure, and lent the space to the fire survivors, reported CRHoy.com.
“We had prepared for the hurricane, and are offering the shelter for 200 people and 92 children who arrived at 2 a.m. (Sunday),” explained the mayor of Tibás, Carlos Cascante, to CRHoy.com.
The judicial investigative police (OIJ) press office said police were alerted Sunday morning as to the presence of a dead body, and upon investigating, they found three other deceased.
An investigation is underway to clarify what happened and determine what caused the fire, said the OIJ.
