The Prosecutor Sebastian Fedulloin charge of the investigation of the fire in an apartment in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Recoleta that caused the death of five members of a family, confirmed this Friday that “The origin of the fire was the lithium batteries of a skateboard that was in the living room” according to the preliminary report made by firefighters.
“Indeed, the lithium batteries of the (electric) skateboard that was in the linvig would have been the origin of the igneous focus according to the preliminary report,” Fedullo assured in dialogue with the TN chain.
The prosecutor maintained that “there could be several causes” that explain the reaction of the batteries, but reiterated that “there was no battery explosion” and pointed out that “sometimes an effect is generated as if it were a flare, which produces a flame that then it spreads; it may have been due to overload, exposure to the sun, internal failure, but that will be determined by the expertise”.
Regarding the cause of the event, it is related to the sudden exothermic reaction of lithium batteries, belonging to an electric “skateboard scooter”, which was allegedly induced for various reasons, such as: overload or excessive discharges, blows to the the cells or exposure to heat sources, whose thermal potential was transmitted to the elements suitable for burning, thus giving rise to what happened.
Fedullo said that this Friday, registered experts are reviewing the 14-story building located at Ecuador 1026, and that the residents will be able to return to their apartments once “Edenor and Metrogás enable it.”
In the expert report it was established that it is a building of modern date, made up of a structure of load-bearing, perimeter and dividing walls of bricks settled in a mixture of masonry and a flat covering of slab, made up of a ground floor and 13 upper floors, intended for in its entirety to apartment house.
“The investigation focused on the interior of an apartment on the seventh floor that covers the entire plane, which is made up of a living-dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a laundry room,” explained judicial sources.
And, they added that “it was possible to verify the concretion of a generalized cutting combustive process in the environment destined to living-dining room, whose approximate measurements are 6.00 x 4.00 x 2.80 meters high, which is located in the middle part, left side (seen from the public road)”.
Regarding the cause of death of Sofia Kabudi and her children Rafi Jabbaz, 3 years old; Orly Jabbaz, 7; and Esther Jabbaz, 9, and Camila Jabbaz, 17, stated that “a priori it is presumed that they were due to carbon monoxide inhalation”, although he asked to wait for the autopsy reports to confirm that hypothesis.
Fedullo indicated that “the state of health of the father of the family, Isaac Jabbaz, 55, who was injured in the fire and is hospitalized in the Sanatorio Anchorena, in the Buenos Aires town of San Martín, is “delicate”, for which They await his recovery so that he can testify in the case.
The prosecutor will also take testimonial statements from the people affected by the fire that broke out this Thursday at 5:50 on the seventh floor of the building, once they recover, since 12 of the more than 30 who were transferred to Buenos Aires hospitals are still hospitalized. , to complete the investigation.
However, he said that the strongest hypothesis indicates that it was an accidental fire.
Meanwhile, the five deceased will be buried in the Bene Emeth Sephardic Jewish Cemetery, in the Buenos Aires town of Banfield.
