Explosion in London: they confirm it was not an attack | The fire broke out in a parking lot under the metro tracks



[ad_1]

As night falls in London, news of the awe-inspiring explosion followed by fire near Elephant and Castle tube and train station confirms the disaster is already under control. From 44 calls to 999 (emergency number), at 1:47 p.m. (9:47 a.m. Argentinian time), when thick black smoke began to appear which announced the explosions, a deployment of 100 firefighters and 15 trucks immediately came and managed to control the fire. Police were also present to help evacuate around 100 people inside the train station where the smoke had entered, disperse passers-by and place a police cordon to prevent people from entering. Fortunately, no lives were lost, but the ambulance services that turned up had to deal with six people for smoke inhalation at the scene, and one person had to be hospitalized in the hospital for the same reason.

Train and metro lines had to suspend stops at this station, and traffic in the area was heavily affected as the area is a kind of crossroads of important avenues to reach different parts of the city.

Police spokesman said ruled out the possibility of an act of terrorism – arguably the most feared reason for the explosions – and claimed that it all started in one of the garages located in the arches of the structure that supports the passage of trains. At this time, the Mayor of London and the neighborhood authorities warmly thank the firefighters, paramedics and police for their efficiency, who talk about this good British custom of celebrating the positive actions of public services when they do the right thing.

Although the exact extent of the damage is not yet known, it is known that three business establishments were left in ashes, several cars exploded and a telephone booth caught fire.

However, there is great concern among businessmen renting space in the neighborhood for their shops and restaurants, who fear structural failure in this recently modernized and radically remodeled neighborhood. In addition, this disaster may discourage the public from frequenting the area, where activity has resumed after a long lockdown due to the COVID pandemic. It is only now, thanks to an intense vaccination campaign which has made it possible to relax social distance, that the public is returning to normal city activities.

Little Colombia

It is striking to note that only one media consulted mentioned the significance of Elephant and Castle for the Latino community, naming the station “Little Colombia”, given the strong presence of Colombian shops and small restaurants which until recently surrounded the former Elephant and Castle shopping center, which closed in September 2020 to be replaced by a modern residential and commercial complex in a spirit of urban “regeneration”.

Naturally, the effect was the dispersal of a large part of the Latino community who rented premises at very reasonable prices, and they were evicted and dispersed, as very few of them have the resources to rent in the area. region today. Decades ago, the region had started to become a Latin epicenter in London with the arrival of political refugee groups from Chile and other countries, and later economic migration from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, also including, but on a smaller scale, for migrants from Argentina.

There, newcomers who could not speak English flocked to learn how to navigate the bureaucracy to secure a residence, get a job, or cultivate nostalgia with a plate of sancocho.

An urban myth has long linked the curious name of this district in the Spanish-speaking world. According to the legend, which Londoners told with sarcasm until in 2013 it was denied by a historian, the Infanta of Castile stopped in this neighborhood before entering the city for her marriage to Eduardo I Never too good at languages, the English of the time transcribed the name of the Infanta of Castile as what seemed to them most in English: Elephant and Castle.

.

[ad_2]
Source link