Buenos Aires, April 3 (NA) – A month has passed since the collapse of the slab in sector 2 of the “Estación Buenos Aires” building complex in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Parque Patricios, which affected 300 families and ruined their futures.
The early morning of March 3 changed the lives of residents who lived in the building on Mafalda 907, three blocks from the Tomás Adolfo Ducó stadium of Huracán, and which is also near the Barracas Central field. At 4 a.m., the slab of the underground parking lot collapsed, the tenants woke up terrified and faced the catastrophe.
In turn, the neighbors of tower A, sector 2 of EBA, had to carry out a new preventive evacuation after an alert was generated by a bent window. Following the complaint, COSUD, the General Directorate of Guard of Aid and Emergency of the City of Buenos Aires inspected the site and released a statement. It is emphasized that the defect shown in the photograph “has no connection whatsoever with the collapse of a sector of the basement on March 3” and that the affected window “corresponds to a project modification carried out by third parties, foreign to COSUD, after the completion of the work.”
Attorney Fernando Burlando intervened in the case, began to legally represent “about 200 affected people” and, together with his colleague Gabriel Fiedotin, requested to accuse those responsible from the construction company COSUD and Mortgage Bank. In the writ, Burlando and Fiedotin argue that there are already the necessary evidentiary elements for the process to move to the next stage and to hold the authorities of the construction of the affected tower and the bank in charge of the trust that administers the project responsible.
COSUD's Defense The company Constructora Sudamericana S.A. stated that the ground of one of the courtyards sank and the rubble destroyed the parked vehicles.
The Government of the City of Buenos Aires guaranteed accommodation in the Hotel Las Américas and other places to several of the victims, who could not bring their dogs because they were not accepted, while many families had children with disabilities and autism, who were surprised and distressed by the situation. EBA is a housing complex to which hundreds of people gained access through the PROCREAR program during the government of former President Alberto Fernández (2019-2023). The Action Plan was approved by the DGGAYE on March 4.
The affected structure was shored up while the neighbors waited to return to their homes to remove belongings, and on March 18, the DGGAYE lifted the preventive closure of the place - except for the parking lot - and the affected people began to return with the authorization of the Criminal, Contraventional and Misdemeanor Prosecutor's Office No. 31.
According to COSUD, “more than 90%” of the “apartments have electricity, gas and water network enabled”, while in the rest of the homes, the inhabitants must contact the corresponding companies to restore the supply, in accordance with current regulations.
“From the same day of the event, COSUD took immediate actions spontaneously and on its own initiative, organizing the logistics of evacuation and financing the accommodation and feeding of approximately 300 neighbors and more than 50 pets”, the company founded in 1970 defended itself.
In this sense, they added that “in less than 24 hours, the company presented to the competent authority an Action Plan to ensure the structural stability of the Complex, with the intervention of an independent professional structural expert.” (COSUD) disseminated a communiqué, accessed by the Argentine News Agency, in which it listed the measures carried out since the day of the disaster.
“There are no impediments for both the common areas and the apartments to have the full set of services”, they emphasized.
Regarding the accommodation of some affected persons, the firm indicated that there are 11 cases with “special needs”.
However, to date, there are no detainees or accused for the collapse that changed the lives of those affected, who only hope for a clear answer to return to their homes, even though the conditions are “guaranteed”.
