Fire in a sugar mill in Argentina leaves at least 11 dead
A massive fire in sugar mill in northwest Argentina has resulted in 11 reported deaths and at least 15 injured.
The fire began yesterday at around 4:00 p.m. in the La Esperanza sugar mill in a small town of the same name in the northwestern Argentine province of Jujuy.
A team of eight firefighters and an air tanker succeeded in putting out the flames within hours - but not before an explosion in the alcohol tanks at the site.
The flames, some over 30 feet in height, engulfed the area near the main access gates - just feet away from a residential street.
Neighborhood residents, as well as the 200 workers at the mill, were promptly evacuated. Victims were taken to two hospitals in neighboring San Pedro.
Time bomb
Governor Gerardo Morales, who declared two days of mourning in the province, has so far admitted to only five fatalities. But Enrique Wandschneider, chief counsel for the La Esperanza Mill Workers' Union (SOEAILE), released a figure of 11 deaths as of today.
SOEAILE had denounced numerous safety flaws at the La Esperanza mill since its re-opening in July. "How many times did we say it?" union leader Sergio Juárez lamented. "This was a time bomb."
Founded in 1883, the mill produced 65,000 tons of sugar at its height in 2015 before the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration slashed federal subsidies - forcing its eventual closure and later privatization.
A nationwide economic crisis led to the closure last year of the San Isidro sugar mill, founded in 1760 and the nation's oldest. The "Macrisis," as it's known in Argentina, led to Macri's defeat in elections on October 27.
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The La Esperanza sugar mill fire yesterday claimed at least 11 lives, and has jeopardized the roughly 200 jobs at the facility.
The union representing workers at the mill (SOEAILE) had denounced numerous safety flaws since its re-opening in July.
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