Eighteen years ago, Juan Duarte was a second officer at the 9th Metropolitan Police Station in the capital. That Sunday, August 1, he had to carry out patrol tasks on Artigas Avenue. However, what would have been a routine tour, turned into a rescue job when he and his colleagues observed a large column of smoke and minutes later heard the call for support from the firefighters.
“Already 200 meters, before the supermarket, we couldn’t get there. We got out, we saw people running and screaming, there we realized that the smoke was coming from inside that large place, but we didn’t think there were people inside,” said Commissioner Juan Duarte, who today is head of the police station. 23° of Ciudad del Este, in an interview with 730 AM.
He said that just as they approached the main entrance, they realized the seriousness of the situation. “We entered the main door and saw a large number of bodies, some crawled out, others were already lying half-dead, while several were already lifeless,” he lamented.
Consequently, he and his comrades tried to save the people who were trapped, but the smoke made it extremely difficult for the rescuers, as they could not even breathe. Then, the volunteer firefighters dug a hole in the side of the supermarket, managing to enter and remove the bodies from the access ramp to the parking lot of the place.
“We (police officers) stayed outside and acted as handrails, we removed the bodies and threw them into the patrol car and they left,” he mentioned, recalling that he later received the body of the little girl with whom he would later be photographed while he was running, giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. .
“They passed the baby to me, with that desperation, the need arose to save that creature,” he said, then handed the baby over to a paramedic to continue with the rescue work.
It is worth mentioning that the baby in the photograph was Annette Becker, who did not survive. At the time, it was wrongly reported that the baby the officer was carrying was a boy named Enzo Bobadilla, who did survive the fire.
This Monday marks the 18th anniversary of the Ycuá Bolaños tragedy, in which nearly 400 people lost their lives. Various activities are planned in the 1-A Memorial enabled days ago.
The entrance Rescue police in the Ycuá Bolaños tragedy: “We saw people running and screaming” was first published in diary TODAY.
