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Peru: Lima Teen Falls in Manhole, Swept away with Sewage

Living in Peru
Barbara Drake

For a few soles, thieves in Lima are stealing manhole covers, threatening the lives of thousands of people. So far this year, 1,900 of these covers have been stolen in Lima and Callao, creating death traps for pedestrians of all ages. From January to June, in Villa El Salvador and San Juan de Miraflores alone, 418 lids were reported as missing.

A troubling example is what happened the last Saturday in the eighth block of Avenida Morales Duárez, in the Cercado de Lima district of the city. Teenager Ray Pomiano Villanueva (15), in a moment of distraction, ran into an uncovered drain hole in the middle of the street and, before the eyes of dozens of witnesses, fell in and disappeared, dragged by the flowing sewage.

Until now [July 16, 2008] his body has not been found. According to rescue workers, Pomiano might be stranded on a beach in Callao or in a collecting drain in Los Olivos. He may have been trapped in an underground pipe.

The victim's sister, Vanessa Pomiano, called for Sedapal to intensify its rescue efforts. "We demand that they continue searching morning, afternoon and night to find him," she said.

Criminal law specialist Luis Lamas Pucci said that the Attorney General will bring a lawsuit against the sanitation company for acting with blatant negligence.

"This is culpable homicide in its aggravated form," said Lamas. "The penalty could be four years in prison for the head of the corresponding department and even for board members. They must compensate the family for at least one million soles."

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# CapitanDan says :
17 July, 2008 [ 13:51 ]

This is a Very Sad Incident to say the least.  I send My sincerest and Heartfelt regrets and Sympathy to the Family. I also offer a Reward of 1000 Soles to be paid to whoever finds the Thief or Thieves responsible for stealing these covers or the person buying these covers on their conviction. I pledge this and I am good for my word. Chau Friends.

# Big Business says :
17 July, 2008 [ 14:36 ]

This is much bigger than just a couple of thieves: Thieves steal thousands of manhole covers in Lima

# CapitanDan says :
17 July, 2008 [ 16:32 ]

Big Business, You have to start somewhere. It's No Longer Petty Theft. Chau Friend

# Michael says :
17 July, 2008 [ 17:05 ]

You know, it isn't like this problem was something that suddenly happened.  The theft of the covers has been going on for years - thousands did not disappear overnight.  Sedapal should have been on top of this from the beginning.

# mericorps says :
17 July, 2008 [ 17:30 ]

The police need to start staking out scrap metal folks and closing down and jailing scrappers who buy or sell manhole covers.

# David says :
17 July, 2008 [ 17:54 ]

NYC, simply tack welds the covers shut, all the man hole cover near the UN are always shut this way. Easy to open when you need to work.

# PTC says :
19 July, 2008 [ 23:12 ]

Tack weld these lids down