The rock collapse recorded at kilometer 732 of the South Pan-American Highway, in the district of Atico (Caravelí), left thousands of passengers and buses stranded for more than 20 hours. Only after 1:30 p.m. this Saturday, and after several hours of work with heavy machinery, only one lane was enabled, so traffic moved slowly.
It happens that this rock slide occurs for the second time in the same area, warning of the serious danger for citizens who wish to travel from Arequipa to Lima or vice versa, as well as heavy load carriers. Despite this warning, the corresponding authorities ignore it to avoid more tragedies on the road.
Police personnel confirmed that rocks from the surrounding hills fell on the road, covering a stretch of approximately 20 to 30 meters. After more than 22 hours, the road continued to be partially enabled.
DRAMA
On this occasion, yesterday morning, dozens of passengers tried to continue their route on foot. A woman said that she was stranded since 3 on Friday afternoon, because the bus she was traveling on left at 8 in the morning. “I come from Arequipa and I’m going to Chala. The Llamosas bus left at 8 am yesterday (Friday) and we were thinking of arriving in the afternoon, but we had to cross that area somehow to get through,” the passenger expressed to Radio Chala.
Two other older adults who were traveling the same route and risked their lives to reach their destination, regretted that only machinery will arrive in the area to clear the road. In addition to this, due to the capacity of the unit, they questioned whether the work was too slow.
For their part, the drivers told the local media that they had been detained since the previous night. Therefore, they requested that, on these occasions, the Merchants do not take advantage of the situation to sell their products at high prices.
Some passengers chose to make transfers, paying additional tickets. Some residents even requested that the intervention of Provías Nacional be immediate.
ORDER
Given this, the provincial mayor of Caravelí, Roberto Soto Riveros, reported that approximately a thousand provincial and cargo vehicles remained stranded in both directions. He pointed out that this section is highly vulnerable due to humiditysteep slopes and the presence of unstable material.
He recalled that the area registers constant landslides, which is why it has been proposed to the Regional Government of Arequipa and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the section Penthouse-Caravelí-La Barrera-Ocoñaa section that does not have these difficulties and thus “avoid Atico-Ocoña which is claiming lives.”
AREQUIPA LAND TERMINAL
In contrast, four to five companies were selling tickets to Limabut only for night outings, from 9:00 pm last Saturday. They estimated that the blockade could be lifted by that time. However, they stated that they would not assume responsibility if the unit was stopped on the road or for delays in arrival. Users who had already purchased tickets from companies that suspended operations are being rescheduled or receiving refunds, they detailed.
HIGH COST IN TICKETS
The ticket prices of companies that did sell normally charged from S/120. Several citizens bought their tickets on the condition that the road is enabled, if this does not happen it will be rescheduled. “I want to travel urgently and they said the road is blocked, but I still bought it on the condition that it be rescheduled.”said a citizen.
