The early hours of this Friday changed the lives of dozens of families, especially waste pickers, who lived in the Ramírez neighborhood, an informal settlement on the eastern edge of downtown Bogotá, an area of steep slopes with majestic views and poor urban conditions.
A fire affected around 70 homes built with tin tiles, wood and a few bricks in the so-called Ramírez neighborhood.
30 of them are completely destroyed.
According to initial reports, the incident left no victims.
The ranches or shanties, lacking basic public services, and less than a kilometer from Colombia's presidential palace, the Casa de Nariño, burned after what was apparently the explosion of a gas cylinder in the early morning hours.
After the quick arrival of city firefighters, fighting the fire took more than two hours.
At the end, as the sun rose, the houses were reduced to ashes and hot iron, and in some cases twisted.
The survivors, now without a roof to shelter in, lamented, asked for help from the authorities and looked to see if they could rescue any of the few belongings they had.
They have said that there are more than 200 people.
Jaime Castiblanco, the operations coordinator of the Civil Defense in Bogotá, explains to this medium that the fire department continues working to determine the cases and the causes.
He explains that, since there is a lot of recycling material in the neighborhood, it is likely that some oil or collected material caused the fire that then spread.
At the end of the morning, the mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, arrived at the scene, announcing that they would bring food, kits for the night, and basic kitchen items.
He also said they will support families by paying up to 6 months of leases.
“So far 22 families have been characterized, but the number of affected properties is being verified,” he stated.
Subscribe here
to the EL PAÍS newsletter about Colombia and
here to the WhatsApp channel
, and receive all the key information on current events in the country.