The fall of part of the roof of the osasco plaza shoppingon the afternoon of this Wednesday, 8th, in Osasco, Big Sao Pauloreminded city residents of another tragedy that happened in the same shopping center 27 years ago, on June 12, 1996: an explosion due to a gas leak that resulted in the death of 42 people and injuring more than 370.
To the Estadão, residents of the city and merchants in the region remembered what they were doing on the day of the explosion and how they experienced the case of almost 30 years ago. And they said that what happened on Wednesday automatically reminded them of the tragedy of the 1990s.
See the testimonials of those who were at the Mall
Paulo Santos, 50 years old, was already working as a trader in the center of the city, near the mall, when the tragic accident 96 happened. He recalled the noise of the explosion “which made the whole block tremble”. Even so, he was not intimidated and ran to the place to help the victims.
“That wall over there,” he says, pointing to the back of the mall, “cut a huge hole,” he says. “There was rubble everywhere and many people were injured,” she says.
For him, the collapse of the structure on Wednesday afternoon made people automatically go back in time to the accident almost 30 years ago. “This mall is marked. Its nickname here in the city is ‘Sai de Baixo'”, he says.
For some residents of Osasco, such as Deise Maria Silva, 54, and retired Almir Donizete, 60, the mall “should already be closed”. “It wasn’t supposed to work anymore. It’s not the first (accident) that happens. Thank God this time there were no victims”, said Deise. The couple has lived for more than 30 years in the central region of the city, close to the mall.
inspection and investigation
The city of Osasco reported this Wednesday that the Fire Department’s Auto de Inspection for the site was up to date, valid until July 2024. The mall did not comment on the accident. The causes must be investigated by the police and Crea.
Merchant Rui Tobias, 65, who runs a candy store meters away from the mall, also remembers the hole he opened in the wall of the shopping center due to the explosion in 1996.
There was a strong gas smell nearby, coming from the mall. “I remember the mall leaving the windows and some doors open to get the smell of gas out,” she says.
Three years after the accident, the Justice of São Paulo condemned five people for the explosion: the commercial director of the mall and four engineers. All were acquitted in 2005 by the São Paulo Court of Justice for lack of evidence. The victims were compensated after the case reached the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
