Peru says deadly fire before summit may have been intentional

A mall fire that killed four people just before a global trade summit in Peru may have been set intentionally, authorities said on Wednesday as they offered a 15,000 soles ($4,392) reward for information about a man recorded by security cameras. The government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski had initially ruled out any foul play in the movie theater fire two weeks ago at the upscale Larcomar shopping mall, which came a day before the leaders of the United States, Russia, China and Japan gathered in Lima for the APEC trade summit. The Larcomar fire outraged Peruvians who said authorities had failed to carry out proper safety inspections at the mall and were too quick to play down the possibility of arson as the APEC summit put the Andean country in the global spotlight.

Continue reading...