13 die in Peru stampede as police raid club to enforce lockdown
LIMA, Peru — Thirteen people died in a stampede at a disco in Peru after a police raid to enforce the country’s lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Sunday.
The stampede happened at the Thomas disco in Lima, where about 120 people had gathered for a party Saturday night, the Interior Ministry said.
People tried to escape through the only door of the second-floor disco, trampling one another and becoming trapped in the confined space, according to authorities.
After the stampede, police had to force open the door.
“I feel sorry for the relatives ... but also anger and indignation with the business people who organized the event,” Peru President Martín Vizcarra said at an event in the south of the country. He urged judicial authorities to punish those who had broken the law.
Some 23 people were arrested, and 15 of those tested positive for the coronavirus and will be quarantined, said Claudio Ramírez, a Health Ministry official.
The party “was a breeding ground for the transmission of this disease, there was a viral load because it was a closed environment,” Mr. Ramírez said.
Franco Asensios, one of those who attended the party, told local radio RPP that the police raid started at 9 p.m. and that authorities told the partygoers to let the women exit first.
“People got excited and started to go down, and then they said that the people in front were suffocating,” said Mr. Asensios, who added that a friend who took him to the party had found out about it through social media.
Some people at the scene alleged that police fired shots and tear gas during the raid, but police chief Gen. Orlando Velasco denied it.