[ad_1]
“That happened on September 4 at the San Mateo Police Station, in Soacha,” said councilman Diego Cancino, who explained that the event did not transpire before because the mothers of the deceased boys “are afraid” of appearing in public. because they “received threats.”
Soacha is a municipality in the department of Cundinamarca with about one million inhabitants and due to its condition as a satellite city of the Colombian capital it concentrates the largest number of displaced population in the country.
Cancino explained that the fire started when one of the detainees set fire to a blanket and that on the day of the events a young man died while the other eight died later in clinics where they were taken due to the severity of the burns suffered.
“One of the arrested boys died that day and the other eight died day after day from fatal burns,” said Cancino, who claims to have received all the information from relatives of the deceased and even videos of the day the fire occurred.
Visits ban
Cancino, from the Alianza Verde party, said that that day the police denied the detainees visits from their families and that could have triggered the tragedy.
“That September 4, a boy desperate because he is not allowed to visit set (fire) a blanket and what other mothers tell us is that there was another device that intensified the flames. That, the intensification of the flames, is seen in a video, “Cancino told Efe.
Apparently, says the councilor, the police beat the detainees and denied them food and visits.
He added that the situation was reported to the Attorney General (Public Ministry) and the Prosecutor’s Office and that the objective is to “open a criminal investigation for what happened.
What the police say
Given the councilman’s complaints, the Cundinamarca Police released a statement today confirming eight deaths and notes that an internal disciplinary investigation was opened for these events and the Prosecutor’s Office began a criminal one.
According to the Police, that day at the San Mateo Station, in Soacha, there were 11 detainees who set fire to their mats and “as a result of these events, all of the alleged perpetrators were injured with first and second degree burns.” .
“With regard to the current situation of the 11 people involved in this event, to date the death of eight of them has been recorded. In addition, two are in custody with medical treatment and one still remains hospitalized,” the information added.
The statement adds that the police officers who were at the station “immediately proceeded to control the fire, provide first aid and finally evacuate the injured people to the Cardiovascular Hospital and other local medical care centers.”
The text concludes by saying that “on the same day of the events, the Cundinamarca Police Department informed public opinion about the events.”
Five days after that incident, the Bogotá Police were involved in a scandal due to the excessive use of force by two of its members when arresting a 46-year-old man who died hours later in the hospital, which triggered a wave of protests and vandalism in the Colombian capital and in Soacha in which another 13 people lost their lives.
[ad_2]
