A drug rehabilitation center in the San Juan de Lurigancho district of Lima was the setting for a tragic fire today.

The Public Ministry now reports that 27 people died in the fire at the Cristo es Amor rehabilitation center, which started with a burning mattress on the first floor.

The fire spread quickly to the second floor, according to El Comercio, and patients there were forced to jump out the window to find safety on the street below.

Some patients reported that the fire started when two recent arrivals tried to escape the facilities by burning a mattress and strips of clothing.

“We started throwing water from the second floor, but we couldn’t [put it out],” said one of the patients to El Comercio.

More than twelve units of volunteer firefighters arrived to the building, located on Av. Procederes de la Independencia.

A witness told RPP radio that patients were unable to escape the flames, as the doors were routinely secured to prevent the patients' escape. The witness was forced to jump out a window.

The Cristo es Amor rehabilitation center was a private, Christian-oriented center which sought to cure patients of drug and alcohol addiction. El Comercio reports that it housed some 80 patients.
 

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