A young man is being hailed as a hero after he put his personal safety aside to rescue 25 dogs that were trapped on the roof of a burning building in Lima, Peru.
Sebastián Arias, from Colombia, scaled the outside of the blazing building to reach the roof where the dogs were desperately trying to escape the blaze.
Alerta News Perú / Twitter
One video posted to Twitter, shows Arias climbing on the balcony of the top floor and then onto a ledge to reach a small dog that in desperation runs to the very edge of the roof.
Alerta News Perú / Twitter
The video was posted by Alerta News Perú and can be viewed below:
🔴 AHORA: Sebastián Arias, joven colombiano, rescató a 25 perros que se encontraban atrapados en el techo de un edificio en Gamarra durante un voraz incendio esta tarde.#UltimaHora #Urgente #Ahora #LoUltimo #Peru #Lima #Incendio pic.twitter.com/6H57yFAHzW
— Alerta News Perú (@AlertaNewsPeru) June 10, 2023
In the video, Arias can be seen slowly inching his way across the ledge so he can reach the puppy as dark black smoke billows in the background. Below him, firefighters and bystanders watch the rescue unfold.
Alerta News Perú / Twitter
Alerta News Perú / Twitter
Arias manages to climb within reach of the dog, grabs hold of her and then throws her down to the people below.
Alerta News Perú / Twitter
Bystanders had sheets and mattresses on the ready below to catch the dogs. The dogs were all caught and are safe and sound according to media reports.
Alerta News Perú / Twitter
According to Noticias Caracol, the fire broke out in a residential area of Lima. The fire occurred inside a recycling warehouse and 11 fire units were called to deal with the emergency. Firefighters fought for more than four hours to extinguish the fire.
Arias said he was moved to help because of his love of dogs. “I love them, dogs fascinate me,” Arias told Noticias Caracol. He says he previously worked at the warehouse, that’s how he knew there were animals in danger on the roof. He has a dog himself and couldn’t bear the thought of the dogs perishing in the fire.
“I saw the dog that was up in the corner, I have this beautiful little animal and I wouldn’t want my dog to burn to death. Hearing his cries, his moans, I wouldn’t want my dog to die like that, Arias said. “I love them, I am fascinated by dogs. I worked in that recycler and I knew where the animals were. I don’t know how I got up so fast, the adrenaline made me go up.”
In a video on TikTok Arias is interviewed, which shows additional footage of him rescuing the animals. Video in Spanish.
@latinanoticias Rescatan perros de incendio en Gamarra (Lima, Perú). Habla el héroe que salvó a los 25 perritos. #LatinaNoticias #Ultimahora #heroessincapa #tiktokheroes #noticiasperu #noticiaslima #latinatelevision #latinatv #perritostiktok #perritoscallejeros #perrostiktokers #perrostiktok #perrosdetiktok ♬ Get You The Moon – Kina
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