PhotoBlog - shantytown

May

2012

5:24pm, EDT

Thousands left homeless by shantytown fire in Philippines

Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images Contributor

Residents try to salvage recyclable materials from what used to be houses in the aftermath of a massive fire that engulfed hundreds of makeshift homes in a shanty town community in the Tondo district of Manila, Philippines, May 12.

Some 5,400 people were left homeless by a fire that swept through an island shantytown in Manila, Philippines, on Friday. Many returned to the scene Saturday to try to recover belongings.

During the fire, at least 100 people were plucked from the waters thick with ash and debris, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Amazingly no deaths were reported, though at least five people were injured.

Rouelle Umali / Zuma Press

A resident searches underwater for any reusable materials from the remains of his home.

Jay Directo / AFP - Getty Images

Residents search for usable items at the site of a fire in a shanty town in Manila.

Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images Contributor

Residents try to salvage recyclable materials on what used to be houses in the aftermath of a massive fire.

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Dec

2011

8:53pm, EST

Escalators to improve transportation in Colombian shantytown

Raul Arboleda / AFP - Getty Images

A girl goes up the escalators in the Comuna 13 neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia on Dec. 26, the day of their inauguration. The escalators are the first of their kind to be installed in a shantytown with high rates of urban violence. It is a system that will transform the mobility of the inhabitants of this district, replacing more than 350 concrete stairways. The escalators are composed of six sections and will benefit 12 thousand users.

According to AP:

Mayor Alonso Salazar said officials from Rio de Janeiro plan to visit Medellin to see if such an escalator would work in that city's favelas, which also cling precariously to hillsides.

Comuna 13 residents came out to celebrate and study the $6.7 million escalator which officials say will shorten the 35-minute hike on foot up the hillside to six minutes. Use of the escalator is free.

Read the full story.

Raul Arboleda / AFP - Getty Images

Luis Holguin (L) takes the escalators with his crutch and his daughter Resfa Holguin, at Comuna 13 neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia on Dec. 26.

Raul Arboleda / AFP - Getty Images

A woman looks at the escalators in the Comuna 13 neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia on Dec. 26.

Raul Arboleda / AFP - Getty Images

Children play as they take the escalators in the Comuna 13 neighborhood.

EPA

General view of the new escalators located in the middle of an outdoor urban zone in Medellin, Colombia, on Dec. 26. The service is free with the objective of improving the people´s mobility in the sector.

Residents of Medellin, Colombia are celebrating the new escalators that will shorten the 35-minute hike up the hillside to six minutes.