Resort Barred Ambulances After Blast
The AP reports:
Security guards kept ambulances from entering a Mexican resort following a deadly explosion last November, preventing emergency workers from rendering aid in the crucial first minutes after the blast, CBC News has learned.
The powerful explosion on Nov. 14 ripped through a small lobby of the Grand Riviera Princess hotel in Playa del Carmen, killing two Mexican workers and five Canadian tourists. Officials initially blamed swamp gas, but later determined a leaking gas line was to blame.
After cancelling a scheduled interview and following repeated interview requests, hotel officials sent an email to CBC News late Monday denying they had barred the ambulances from entering and saying it took ambulances 18 minutes to reach the facility.
Four people may face criminal charges in the homicide investigation, state officials say.
Eight emergency calls made following the blast reveal that hotel security barred ambulances and police from entering the expansive resort complex, stranding them outside the front gate located about a kilometre from the blast site. At the same time, hotel staff and guests struggled to treat the wounded with limited supplies and expertise.
No one knows the precise minute of the blast, but it is believed to have happened at about 9:10 a.m.
The first emergency call to 066 — the Mexican equivalent of 911 — came in at 9:24 a.m., reporting a kitchen fire. Five other calls requesting ambulances follow.
At 9:41 a.m., about 17 minutes after the initial call, a police officer says ambulances are not being allowed on site by the security guard, who is unaware of any "event."
"We were all stopped," said Francisco Alor, attorney general of Quintana Roo state. "It was a very unfortunate situation with a lot of negligence. I could even hear on the radio the instructions of someone else in the hotel saying, 'Stop everyone.'"
Alor said he later called in the army to compel staff to allow him on the property. Hotel staff also later chased journalists, beating them with sticks and fire extinguishers.
"It is my perception, without any question, that the hotel tried to take care more of its image than solving the serious problem it was facing," Alor said.
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