McDonald's employees electrocuted to death by soda machine
McDonald's closed down its branches in the country for two days of mourning after the incident.
By OMRI RONA person walks next to a closed McDonald's restaurant, one of all 29 locations that were closed following the deaths of two teenaged employees, in Lima, Peru (photo credit: REUTERS/GUADALUPE PARDO)
Two McDonald's cleaners in Peru have been electrocuted by a defective soda machine and declared dead, according to the local police, Yahoo News has reported.Carlos Campos, 19, and Alexandra Porrasa, 18, died late on December 15 as they cleaned the fast food restaurant in Lima's Pueblo Libre district.Following their deaths, McDonald's closed its 29 branches in Peru as part of two days of mourning.The police and prosecution investigation is ongoing."We want to announce that we have declared two days of mourning since this morning, so all of our restaurants will remain closed in the entire country without affecting the compensation for our colleagues," McDonalds said in a statement.It added that it is cooperating with local authorities in the investigation."Twenty-four hours before (the accident) it was already known that the machine had problems (...)," Jose Carlos Andrade, the general director of Arcos Dorados, the owner of the McDonald's franchise in Peru, told television channel N."This has hit us all very hard, and we are working hard to review all our processes, all our protocols, to ensure such a thing does not happen again," he told the local station.McDonald's later confirmed such machines will be used in the future.Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra announced a bill in response to the event, which will deal with job security after demonstrators rallied on Saturday against labor abuses for the second time in a week.
"We can't allow for these kind of accidents to happen and for there to be no comeback other than a fine," he said. "If the law is insufficient for these cases, we have to correct it." Vizcarra said in his statement.
