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Roberto Escobar / EPA
Debris is seen after a fire in a market in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Feb. 18. The fire started in Colon Market, and spread to San Isidro Market, adjacent to Colon.
A fire has swept through street markets in the capital of Honduras, a nation traumatized just five days ago by a fire that killed 358 people at a prison.
Authorities say 11 people were injured and about 1,800 stalls burned, but there were no deaths.
--Reported by the Associated Press
Related content: PhotoBlog posts from the recent prison fire in Honduras
Jorge Dan Lopez / Reuters
Workers of Comayaguela market carry a fire hose as they help firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the market in Tegucigalpa, Feb. 18. No deaths have been reported, but 500 stalls were destroyed after the massive fire broke out at the market.
Jorge Dan Lopez / Reuters
People help to evacuate a man affected by smoke from a fire which broke out at Comayaguela market in Tegucigalpa Feb. 18.
Jorge Dan Lopez / Reuters
A cloud of smoke rises as people evacuate during a fire at Comayaguela market in Tegucigalpa, Feb. 18.
Jorge Dan Lopez / Reuters
A man walks through smoke after a fire broke out at Comayaguela market in Tegucigalpa, Feb. 18.
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Sounds like they have an arsonist problem. Likely a copycat due to the fire at the prison.
Copycat or the Jackal's have a new Urban renewal project under way. Look for the World Bank and or the I.M.F. to start offering loans to them very soon.
Still better than Haiti.
This unfortunate tragedy serves as a reminder that just when it seems to suck more and more to be an American, it's still sucks less than nearly all the rest of the world.
Ahh!!! Those poor cigars !!!
The tragedy goes beyond the injuries and the damage to the market and its stalls. Vendors work from day to day using one day's profits to buy the next day's goods. Income is marginal. They buy their day's groceries from the money they earn that day. They pay the town authorities for their space (if they have a stall) or for the privilege of selling (if they wander through the marketplace carrying their stock in their hands, on their heads, or on their backs. Notice the leaking fire hose in the photo above. It is representative of the economy and the government's inability to stem the corruption and collusion with criminals in order to provide services Americans take for granted as a right. This fire will have a long-term affect on the residents of Tegucigalpa and environs.
As a teacher at a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa, it pains me to see so many livelihoods lost in this fire. It also makes my colleagues and me wonder how this might affect the already high crime rate in the city. With so many livelihoods lost, how many of these people will have little choice but to turn to petty crimes in order to support themselves?