metro

Super Xtra given green light to open

CARLOS LEMOS/LA PRENSA

cleaned up: Health inspectors gave the Super Xtra the go-ahead to reopen after the store posted warning signs around the septic tank.1094834

The Super Xtra store in 24 de Diciembre where two workers died and several others were injured earlier this month after inhaling toxic fumes from an on-site septic tank will be allowed to reopen.

Inspectors with the Ministerio de Salud (Minsa) left the store yesterday without issuing an order to extend the temporary suspension of activities there. The store was closed on Sept. 15 after health officials cited the company for various infractions.

Lucas López, director of the Región Metropolitana de Salud, said the store will be allowed to reopen because it has met the demands stipulated in the resolution to close the store. “They took the corrective actions, which we confirmed during an inspection we made,” he added.

The owners of the Super Xtra chain will not be subject to fines since they had complied with the criteria mentioned in the sanctions, explained López. According to those health stipulations, the supermarket underwent a thorough cleaning, and the area around the septic tanks was cleaned, renovated and labeled with warning signs indicating “Danger” and “Treatment Plant.”

Authorities did determine that the store management was in part responsible for the deaths of Benigno Mojica and Edgar Pittí, who asphyxiated after entering the septic tank without protective equipment.

Meanwhile, Jorge Ojo, one of the Xtra employees injured by noxious gases from the tank, left Hospital Santo Tomás Tuesday, without permission from his doctor.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Ojo, 25, reported that he was recovering well, but said he still felt tired. He did not give reasons for his decision to leave the hospital early.

Ojo said he had not yet been contacted by the Ministerio Público to testify about the accident that killed his two co-workers.

Fellow accident victim Expedito Sanjur remained in intensive care yesterday at the Complejo Hospitalario Metropolitano.

Public prosecutors have issued subpoenas for Ojo, Sanjur, several other Xtra employees and store owners, and will launch a formal investigation of the Sept. 14 accident sometime next week.