Traffic & Accidents in Lima

Lima Teen Falls in Open Manhole & Disappears in Sewer

This is one of the most awful events I’ve heard about recently. Lima has a huge problem with people stealing manhole covers, and the streets are becoming hazardous to pedestrians – now fatally, for one Lima teenager.

El Fotógrafo told me about the incident over breakfast. “What a way to go,” he said, shaking his head.

The story was so preposterous, I didn’t believe him at first. Then I googled “tapas de desagues [sewer tops], Lima,” and the news item came up on the Peru21 website. Blogger Kalun Lau wrote about a similar theft problem in Trujillo, on his Spanish-language site Kalumonology (Lau’s photo of sewer hole minus lid above).

Here’s my translation of the Peru21 article, which also appears in today’s Living in Peru news section:

“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 second 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 could 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 obvious 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.”

I read El Híjo the news item a few minutes ago. He thinks the Pomianos should be suing SEDAPAL for 50 million soles.

“They need a new lawyer,” EH says.

If any readers has photos of Lima manholes missing their covers, feel free to send them to mail@americaninlima.com. I’ll post them on the blog.

I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.

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