In 2010, 81 inmates died in a massive fire at the San Miguel prison in Chile’s capital city, Santiago. Inside, they were trapped behind bars. Outside, dozens of family members waiting for visiting hours to begin looked on helplessly as their loved ones shouted for help. The doors remained locked. Justice remains elusive as the trial fails to assign blame. With full access to the judicial files, this reconstruction sheds light on the utter failure of the prison administration, which housed twice as many prisoners as allowed.
We hear fragments from telephone conversations between prison officials and emergency services in which shocking and harrowing discussions occur about whether to cut open the locks. Survivors and relatives of the dead tell of how corruption and mismanagement erased the rights of detainees. The evidence gathered for the trial – the security camera footage, photos, news clips, and audio recordings from inside and outside the jail – brings the events to life and reveals the full scale of the tragedy.
