In her last minutes of life, a mother hugged her barely 3-year-old son to try to protect him from the fire. Both were found lifeless among the rubble of the house, still embraced. A few meters away lay José María Vílchez (42), who had managed to escape the fire, but returned to rescue his two children when he realized they were still trapped in the flames. He never came out again.
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These two scenes portray the magnitude of the tragedy that left ten members of the same family dead, including five minors, after a voracious fire, investigated by the Police as an alleged attack provoked by criminals in the context of an alleged extortion case, reduced a two-story wooden house to ashes during the early hours of this Wednesday, July 22.
Among the victims are a 3-year-old child, two 6-year-olds, an 8-year-old, and a 15-year-old teenager, in addition to five adults who failed to escape the fire. The tragedy occurred on block 1 of Pasiagua street, a few blocks from the intersection of Aviación and 28 de Julio avenues, in the Manzanilla urbanization of Cercado de Lima.
17 people lived in the property, distributed among three families who shared the house. Only seven managed to get out alive before the fire completely engulfed the structure.
The deceased were identified as Leónidas Vílchez (72), José María Vílchez (42), Orestes Vílchez (29), Paola Vílchez (37), and Katherine Gómez (29), in addition to the five minors. Authorities continue with investigations to clarify the origin of the fire and identify those responsible.
The fire advanced in a matter of minutes
According to neighbors’ testimony, it all began with a loud bang that many mistook for a traffic accident. Moments later, they felt intense heat and observed that a fire had broken out in front of a property where mototaxis and motorcycles were parked and where a mattress repair shop also operated.
The presence of highly flammable materials caused the fire to spread in a matter of minutes. The flames first reached a tent installed outside and, from there, quickly engulfed the Vílchez family’s wooden house, giving its occupants no time to get to safety.
When the family members tried to escape, the main exit was already surrounded by fire.
“When we opened the gate there was no way out”
Renzo Rojas Meza survived the fire, but lost his wife, his three children, and other family members. With his clothes covered in ash and his hands reddened after trying to rescue his loved ones, he reconstructed for this Newspaper the last minutes before the tragedy.
“I was in the bathroom when my children started screaming that there was a fire. When we opened the gate to leave, everything was already on fire and there was no way out,” he recalled while observing the charred remains of the house.
In a desperate attempt to save his life, he soaked himself with water before going through the flames. “All my clothes were catching fire. The neighbors poured water on me. When I asked about my family, they told me everyone was inside: my wife and my children.”
Renzo said that, just a few minutes before the fire, everyone was sharing a moment of peace. They had finished tidying the house and were recording family videos.
“We were playing,” he said with a broken voice, recalling the last time he saw his three children alive.
He went back for his children and couldn’t get out
Among the victims was also José María Vílchez (42), father of two of the other deceased minors. According to relatives and witnesses, he managed to get to safety during the first seconds of the fire; however, realizing that his children remained trapped inside the house, he returned to try to rescue them.
A witness said that when he finally managed to get out of the house again, his body was completely covered in burns. “He was all burned and fell. Renzo saw him and didn’t go in,” he recalled.
The two minors José María tried to save died with him. His brother, Orestes Vílchez (29), also lost his life during the fire. In total, ten family members died in a matter of minutes.
“I lost everything”
Renzo Rojas Meza still couldn’t assimilate the magnitude of the tragedy. He walked among the remains of the house looking for answers, while watching police and firefighters remove the rubble to recover the charred bodies of his relatives.
The survivor lost his wife, his three children, and other family members.
He explained that he works repairing mattresses and assured that he never received threats nor was he aware that anyone wanted to attack the house.
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However, he commented that one of his relatives rented mototaxis and that it was he who was allegedly being a victim of extortionists.
The extortion lead
Consulted by El Comercio, a relative of the victims assured that the fire would be related to the dispute over the control of mototaxi and electric motorcycle stops that provide service on Aviación Avenue, between the Grau and Gamarra stations of Line 1 of the Lima Metro.
As he explained, in recent weeks similar attacks had been registered against owners of these vehicles. “They have already been burning several motorcycles around here. Two weeks ago they burned two and four days ago another two, from different owners. Now they have come to burn these,” he stated.
The relative maintained that they do not know if those responsible used gasoline or a Molotov cocktail; however, he indicated that the explosion caused the fire to spread immediately to the wooden house.
The rapid combustion, coupled with the presence of a tent and other flammable materials outside the property, made it impossible to control the flames during the first minutes.
Neighbors ruled out that the attack was directed against the family for a settling of scores.
“If it had been revenge, the criminals would arrive and shoot you. In the same way they have burned other motorcycles in the sector, they carried out this fire,” one of them stated.
Another neighbor agreed with that version and assured that threats against those who work with mototaxis are constant.
“It’s people from San Cosme hill who come down to burn the motorcycles. The Vílchez family worked repairing mattresses and also with their motorcycles. They were not criminals,” she affirmed.
The investigation continues
The fire mobilized several fire companies and was classified as a code two emergency. Agents of the National Police, forensic experts, and representatives of the Public Ministry remained for several hours in the area removing the rubble to recover the bodies of the victims and begin investigations.
PNP Colonel Juan Carlos Montúfar, head of the Social Affairs Division, confirmed that among the deceased was a mother who was found hugging her barely 3-year-old son, in an apparent attempt to protect him from the flames.
“The Police are making every possible effort to control this crime wave. We are working, but we arrest three and then six appear,” he declared.
The officer specified that the main task of the investigators is to determine if the fire was intentionally set and to establish if it is related to an alleged case of extortion or an act of retaliation linked to the dispute over the control of certain spaces where mototaxis and electric motorcycles operate in Cercado de Lima.
The other hypotheses of the case
While the Police continue with investigations, relatives of the victims maintain that the attack would be related to previous threats.
One of them stated that one of the deceased women had had an argument days earlier with a person who allegedly engaged in collecting protection money from mototaxi drivers. According to that version, the confrontation would have triggered the attack.
Another relative indicated that a woman would be the alleged person responsible for ordering the attack. However, that version has not yet been corroborated by the authorities.
Sources consulted by this Newspaper indicated that, as of the close of this edition, the relatives had not yet gone to the Police to formalize their statements about the alleged threats they claim to have been receiving. Likewise, there were no previous extortion complaints related to the case, an element that will be evaluated during the investigation.
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