The ceiling of the UNESCO-listed church of São Francisco de Assis collapsed on February 5th in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, leading to one fatality and several injuries. Our collaborator Brian Mier brings us the opinions of Brazilians about the unfortunate incident in the following report.
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00:00We stay in Brazil where the federal police have opened a criminal investigation into the roof collapse in the historic landmark
00:06San Francisco Church in Salvador. Our correspondent Brian Meir has more.
00:14After the roof collapse in Salvador's San Francisco
00:17Church, killing one and injuring five tourists last week, the grief quickly turned to anger.
00:23Some politicians, church officials, and journalists tried to blame the tragedy on the National Institute of
00:29Historic and Artistic Heritage, or IFAN, a
00:32small agency that designates historic landmarks and provides technical support to their owners, but is not responsible for maintenance.
00:40Obviously, IFAN doesn't have the resources needed to reform all the historic buildings, and the owners don't have the habit of properly
00:47maintaining them, even when they have the resources to do so, like some orders of the Catholic Church. Aside from a small group of people
00:53who care about preservation, society as a whole only seems to worry about our historic landmarks after a disaster like this one, or the fire in
01:00the National Museum that happened in Rio de Janeiro a few years ago. Aside from these situations, people have little interest in historic preservation.
01:07So at these moments, everyone remembers that we have IFAN, and they blame it for things far beyond its capacity and legal responsibilities.
01:15Construction of San Francisco's church, nicknamed the Church of Gold, was finished in
01:201713, and before the roof collapsed last week,
01:23it was known as one of the seven wonders of Portuguese architecture. With dozens of other buildings in similar states of disrepair in the
01:31Pelourinho neighborhood, locals are wondering how many disasters have to take place before society realizes the importance of preserving its history.
01:39I hope that the authorities who represent our organized society and UNESCO take over the rehabilitation.
01:46People who don't preserve the past don't live in the present, and will never be able to build the future.
01:51Preserve to perpetuate. Long live Pelourinho.
01:55On Tuesday, the federal police initiated a criminal investigation into the roof collapse.
02:01Brian Mier, Tel Assur, Salvador.