The chief prosecutor of Zaragoza has opened an investigation to find out the circumstances that caused the fire that occurred a week ago at the Villafranca de Ebro psychogeriatric residence to result in the death of ten of the residents.
The decision of the representative of the Public Ministry comes in response to the request made by the Patient Advocate Association to open an ex officio investigation into an event regarding which they express their “astonishment and disbelief” at the high number of victims recorded.
“We don’t quite understand how a fire breaks out in a room and affects no less than ten elderly people. Didn’t anyone notice anything? What was in the room that could have caused such a fire? Didn’t they immediately go to the fire brigade? These are some of the questions that those responsible for the association raise to the Prosecutor’s Office, which they urge to clarify the doubts that the center’s security measures raise.
They also consider in their brief that situations like this could constitute a crime of abandonment of duties and knowingly abandoning the protection measures for the elderly, which is why they trust in rapid action by the public prosecutor’s office to find out the reasons for the tragedy.
“In this case we understand that people’s lives are allegedly put at risk due to the poor performance and surveillance of the administration,” adds the patient’s ombudsman’s letter.
They ask to improve the “disastrous” conditions of workers in the sector
This Friday, a week after the tragedy experienced in the residence fire, the OSTA union has gathered to demand that politicians develop an autonomous collective agreement that dignifies the profession and improves the “quite dire” conditions endured by the around 13,000 workers in the sector. Still shocked by the drama, those gathered in Zaragoza have paid tribute to the workers of the residence, especially the two colleagues on the night shift who risked their lives to save those of many residents, in an act of gratitude that they have extended to Firefighters, Civil Guard and the rest of the troops who collaborated in the emergency that occurred seven days ago.
The OSTA union delegate and supervisor of the Jardines de Villafranca residence, Ana María Meler, has called for a review of the worker ratios so that there are more people on each shift: “Nothing ever happens until it happens and at that moment you realize that you are totally unprotected. No matter how much you want to do, it is impossible and the two workers who were there the night of the fire fall within the limits of the ratio, but, obviously, if there were more people, everything would be better at the time of shifts and at all levels.” , he pointed out.
Meler has loudly shared her “perplexity and sorrow” at the “media circus” generated around the tragedy and the succession of statements “from those who do not know the reality of the sector”, while the workers “have remained silent”, focused on assist the users of the damaged residence. Some of them, even, making compatible their work in the Vitalia Huesca center, where the affected residents have been temporarily transferred, and the cleaning and conditioning work that they are carrying out in the Villafranca de Ebro center so that users ” They can return as soon as possible.”
The urgency for this return comes from how “disoriented” the residents of the damaged center feel right now, who have been rehoused in Vitalia Huesca, as explained by the supervisor, since “they are not used to the rules of the new center and “I miss the freedom that being able to walk through the gardens of the residence and the streets of Villafranca de Ebro gives them.”
In his speech, Meler has reproached the political class for the promises that have not been kept for years: “Measures such as ratios are negotiated by our politicians and the unions that endorse social dialogue, which is why many of these statements sincerely cause shame to others since they They are part of the problem and since 1992 with governments of different colors they have done absolutely nothing,” he stressed. “Those who are now pulling their hair out, criticizing ratios and conditions, Meler continued, are those who negotiate or endorse a state agreement that regulates the conditions and salaries of more than 13,000 people in Aragon and that does not value or dignify their work” .
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