Tragedy struck a low-income district of Lima when a fast-moving fire tore through a residential area, killing 10 people and reducing two homes to ruins.
Peru’s civil defence reported yesterday that two additional people were injured.
Relatives said the victims included five adults and five children.
Debris at the site of a fire that killed ten people in Lima
Police chief Oscar Arriola confirmed that the dead included “nine members of one family, five of whom are minors”.
Authorities have opened an investigation “to determine the point of origin, the circumstances, and the causes of this fire”, Arriola told reporters.
Peruvian media reported that extortionists threatening local businesses set the blaze.
Colonel John Lujan, who is leading the inquiry, said investigators are examining several lines of inquiry, including “a possible deliberate act or a case of extortion”.
Children look out from the window of a house next to the home where the fire broke out
Survivor Gina Vilchez told reporters she managed to flee the home with her children.
“There are 17 of us. Ten have died and seven of us were saved,” she said, as other relatives shared photos and video with the media showing frantic efforts to reach people trapped by the flames.
Keiko Fujimori, Peru’s president-elect, visited the charred site and described the deaths as “a terrible massacre”.
“What people are asking for is order and security, and that is the first thing we are going to do next week,” Mr Fujimori said.
