26 People Died When A School Collapses Due To Earthquake, Project Director Sentenced To 208 Years In Prison

JAKARTA - A Mexican court sentenced a man to 208 years in prison on Wednesday, July 14 local time, on charges of causing the death of 26 people, mostly children, when a school collapsed in the massive earthquake that hit Mexico City, Mexico in 2017.

The Mexico City Attorney General's Office said the man was described as a director of work without guaranteeing the structural safety of the school in Tlalpan, the southern district of the capital, without carrying out the necessary testing and despite irregularities in the construction of the building.

The Attorney General's Office identified the man as Juan 'N'. Local media identified him as Juan Mario Velarde Gamez. The court also ordered Velarde to pay 377.450 pesos (USD 19.000) to each of the victims' families. A total of 494.000 million dollars or approximately IDR 7.176.263.900

Nineteen children and seven adults died when Enrique Rebsamen's private school collapsed in a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, Mexico's deadliest in a generation. A total of 369 people died in the capital and surrounding states as a result of the incident.

Meanwhile, reports The Independent, it was the longest sentence ever handed down in connection with the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on September 19, 2017, although it was largely symbolic, as Mexico does not allow life imprisonment and limits sentences to 60 years.

Prosecutors said Juan Mario Velarde, the 'director in charge' of the renovations, was convicted of 26 counts of murder. He is one of the hundreds of private experts who are paid to oversee safety and standards on building sites.

The construction in question is an apartment construction project at the top of the collapsed school, which is considered not in accordance with the provisions of a safe construction process.

Earlier in 2020, Mónica García Villegas, owner, and director of the private primary school was sentenced to 31 years in prison. She was convicted on charges equivalent to premeditated murder.

García Villegas was put on trial because officials said her decision to improperly build apartments over part of the school contributed to the collapse of the school building during the earthquake.