Portoviejo
A fire inside the Pasaje Centro Portoviejo, one of the iconic places of commerce in the capital of Manabi, generated losses of several thousand dollars in stores that had their spaces in this commercial site.
The incident in said premises, located between Chile and October 9 streets (Portoviejo shopping center), began around 11:00 p.m. this Saturday. In a video captured seconds before the consumption of the premises, it is observed how the fire even destroys the roll-up door of one of the accesses to the commercial space.
Firefighters from the Colón, Portoviejo, Andrés de Vera, Picoazá and San Pablo parishes traveled to the scene to control the flames and prevent other commercial spaces attached to Pasaje Centro from becoming contaminated. But around 03:00 this Sunday the fire returned and the firefighters controlled it again.
Older adult died in a fire in Portoviejo
William Mera, the second chief of the Portoviejo Fire Department, said that the causes that led to the consumption of a large part of the more than ten stores selling stuffed animals, children’s and adult clothing, suit repair workshops, tailor shops were unknown. and sale of seasonal products.
“A review was carried out trying to ensure that the commercial premises that are nearby have not suffered damage, all the damage was in Pasaje Centro, unfortunately almost 65% was consumed from this premises,” Mera declared.
The owners of the businesses were notified at midnight this Saturday about the matter. Some arrived and could not avoid tears, due to the economic losses left by the fire, even more so when they had acquired more merchandise for the holiday.
For example, Lourdes Cevallos arrived early this Sunday to see what was left of her local Novedades Lilibeth, dedicated to the wholesale and retail sale of clothing for children and adults, a business with which she said she helps mothers to dedicate themselves to the activity of selling clothes by catalog.
He added that from his store the clothes that were not burned were affected by the smoke and water and that he had practically lost everything. Like her business neighbors, she hoped to know the cause of the accident.
She, like other merchants, held a kind of vigil, with police support, to see what they could salvage from the two-story building, whose greatest damage was in the lower part, although the upper floor, where warehouses operate, had not been inspected. products and a kind of administrative area in charge of controlling the spaces of Pasaje Centro.
“I am not going to stay like this, God squeezes, but does not hang. I will continue to support the girls (who promote the sale of clothing by catalog), but it is unfortunate that my neighbors who sold everything from suitcases, stuffed animals and other products, they have lost everything, everything has been burned and what has not been burned. It got wet,” Cevallos said.
In Manta, a man was left in the middle of the flames due to an explosion in his workshop
Pasaje Centro de Portoviejo is one of the iconic retail spaces of Manabi commerce.
After the earthquake of April 16, 2016, being in the so-called ground zero of the capital of Manabí, this space remained closed until the end of 2017 when the merchants gradually returned to their activities again.
At the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, this space of commercial premises closed its doors again until the middle of the previous year, when it began to reactivate. Now, a fire momentarily closes it again for the third time in less than six years. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
