The roof of the Real Plaza shopping centre food court in Trujillo, in Peru's north west, collapsed on February 21, killing eight people and injuring at least 80. Families and supporters held vigils outside the shopping centre to honour the victims and demand justice for the corporate and government negligence that caused the tragedy.
Real Plaza, which is a subsidiary of Peruvian conglomerate Intercorp — owned by Peru’s richest person — has a history of negligence and poor maintenance of its buildings.
Less than six months after the opening of a Real Plaza centre in 2011 in Arequipa — a city in the country’s south — huge concrete blocks detached and fell from the roof and the building flooded.
In 2019, parts of the roof collapsed at a Real Plaza shopping centre in Juliaca, another city in Peru’s south.
Despite these clear signs of systemic defects in its buildings, Real Plaza did not change its inspection and maintenance protocols.
The Peruvian government — essentially acting as the representatives of corporate interests — is also to blame for the tragedy, by weakening regulations and ignoring public safety concerns.
Congress — controlled by an alliance of right and far-right parties — approved a law in October 2023 limiting the ability of local councils to close shopping centres over safety issues. The law mandates that closures must be lifted after a maximum period of 48 hours, even in cases of “imminent danger”.
The law was a blatant move to protect the profits of the corporations that protest at being forced to close over safety issues, even while being aware of the danger to people.
Right-wing congresspeople introduced a bill in April — which was eventually voted down — to extend the validity of building inspection certificates from two years to 10.
In December, right-wing congressperson Adriana Tudela introduced a bill to make inspection certificates’ validity indefinite, meaning that shopping centres would never be obliged to re-certify the safety of their buildings. She only withdrew the bill following the most recent tragedy in Trujillo.
The inspections are merely a formality anyway, when since 2018 they do not require a civil engineer to be present — a change made by the government to “reduce costs” and “simplify processes”.
The day before the collapse, workers at the shopping centre reported “strange noises” coming from the building, but operations continued normally.
Following the tragedy, Real Plaza’s failed to take responsibility, and instead peddled lies and deflections.
Real Plaza claimed that they had contacted all of the families of the victims that died or were hospitalised were disproved by families revealing that, even days after the tragedy, they had not been contacted.
The company also claimed it was covering all the medical costs of victims, but one survivor said he was only offered a paltry 1200 soles ($521) to cover his treatment.
The tragedy sparked the widespread closures of Real Plaza shopping centres, along with many others across the country, due to safety concerns.
The local council in Huancayo closed the city’s Real Plaza shopping centre for 30 days due to the roof’s structural problems and other safety issues.
The tragedy in Trujillo, and the following wave of building closures, highlights the extent of government corruption and corporate greed that has resulted in shopping centres operating without meeting minimum safety standards.