Thursday May 31, 2012
Child "bomberitos" on Peru's most dangerous highway
Peru's Bomberitos to the rescue
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Bomberito means "little fireman" in Spanish. In the Andes Mountains of Peru groups of them use their homemade carretas to help stranded motorists and truckers along the highway. The tips they earn help support their families. Hevert (left) was a bomberito as a kid, helping rescue stranded motorists and victims of disasters. They get their carretas up the steep highway through the Andes by attaching ropes, or just their hands, to passing transport trucks. (Photos: Romi Burianova) The photo that started it (below). Filmmaker Quincy Perkins saw this picture of two Bomberitos -- kids on their own in the mountains of Peru who make their way to mountain accidents and disasters. Our Dispatches contributor went with him to the Amazon valley as he made a film about them (Photo/StefanSonntag) |
It was one of those dinner party stories that sticks in your head. A rumour about kids racing homemade carts high in the Andes, acting as first responders during accidents and disasters.
They have a catchy name. They're said to do dangerous work in a dangerous region.
But are they real? For Dispatches contributor Lori Chodos and a colleague, the voyage to find out was a story in itself.
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Categories: Americas, News Promo, Promo Box, The View from Here
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