Compensation for explosion in 20 de noviembre neighborhood slow in coming

On April 18 this year an explosion took place in the 20 de Noviembre neighborhood, and a condo was destroyed due to a domestic gas accumulation. One people were wounded. Building shards thrown all over the surrounding properties ended up affecting the closest neighbors, and, since then, none of the damages have been paid for by the condo’s owners.

Neighbors like Silvia (not her real name), said that her house looked like a warzone. “I wasn’t here but I was speaking by phone with my partner when out of the blue I heard the explosion and then just silence followed by screams. At the moment I felt horrible because did not know what was happening.”

Her partner was there. She explained that after the blasting she just reacted by taking their cats with her outside the house, which was unrecognizable.

“The next day I had to go to the doctor using my job’s health care. I got an acoustic trauma, the doctor said. Since that day I have had headaches and dizziness all the time. Whether I move my head quickly and then get back to my head’s normal passion, I get dizzy.”

Silvia and her partner agreed not to add the psychological and physical side effects to the construction company reparations they should have covered. The only thing they’re asking now is to get their car repaired – $1,600 USD. Silvia pointed out that because their car is out of use, they have had issues with their transportation to work, which has caused hard times for them within their jobs.

A mechanic workshop next to the condos is still waiting for damages to be paid for. Alejandro Epifanio, who’s in charge of this workshop, stressed that three of their costumer’s cars got serious damages, and the official in charge of assessing the compensation has promised they would pay them off later, but at the moment they must pay from their own pockets.

“We can’t just tell our customers that their cars won't be ready for four years while everything is solved. We paid 15 thousand pesos ($750 USD) I those three vehicles, but we got a lawsuit from the owner of a fourth car. We did arrange an agreement with them, but we are still waiting for it,” Alejandro emphasized. “These things should be sorted out by now, I don’t know what the Prosecutor’s Office is doing about it. Seems for me that is just a matter of time before this to happen again somewhere else."

Silvia expressed her worry about how things are working in Tijuana regarding condo constructions in neighborhoods like hers. “First of all, that building was not for the national market, in fact, there was a Korean-American citizen who owned it, and they are buying them to turn them into Airbnb. Furthermore, people started to move in while the construction was not finished entirely, but because they’re owned by private citizens I think they can get permissions right away when they want it.”

For now, neighbors remain uncertain about when their damages will be refunded, and they don’t see any payoffs coming soon. According to them, in the recent heavy rainfalls, water has worked its way through the superficial repairs the company did, so damages can get worse and increase the repair bill that they think would end up paying from their pockets.