Manager of McDonald's franchise in Peru says faulty drinks machine caused deaths

Arcos Dorados Holdings

21/12/2019 15:01

By Marco Aquino
    LIMA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The general manager of the
McDonald's operating firm in Peru has said in an interview with
local TV that the drinks supply machine at the fast food
restaurant where two employees died by electrocution last
weekend was suffering from an electrical fault.
    José Andrade, general manager of Arcos Dorados Peru
 ARCO.N , which has the McDonald's franchise, said that the
managers of the restaurant where the deaths occurred did not
report the fault to the company´s maintenance department.
    "The information, unfortunately, that the machine was not
working and giving people shocks was only known within the local
managers and was not escalated so that immediate action could be
 taken," he told the Peruvian television station Canal N on
Friday night.
    The employees, Alexandra Porras, 18, and Carlos Campo, 19,
were electrocuted on Sunday in Pueblo Libre, a district of the
capital, while cleaning the kitchen, police said.
    Arcos Dorados, which owns and operates McDonald's Corp
 MCD.N  restaurants throughout Latin America, said on Wednesday
it had shut all 29 of the McDonald's Peru restaurants it
operates to conduct safety inspections following a two-day
mourning period. 
    "Based on our internal investigations, what we have been
able to determine is that at least 24 hours before this
happened, it was known that the machine was presenting
problems," said Andrade.
    "At the restaurant level, what they ought to have done is to
stop using the machine, and even disconnect it," said Andrade.
    Relatives of the victims have called for a citizen protest
against McDonald's on Saturday afternoon.
    Prosecutors are already investigating the deaths, while
criticisms of fast food chains and the debate about working
conditions in the country are growing on social media and in
protests. The two victims were a couple and had worked in the
restaurant for several months, according to their families.
    "This has hit us all very hard and what we are doing at the
moment is working hard to review all our processes, all our
protocols to ensure that such a thing does not happen again,"
said Andrade.
    A spokesman for Arcos Dorados did not immediately respond to
the claims by its general manager. 
    

 (Reporting by Marco Aquino; writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing
by Steve Orlofsky)
 ((aislinn.laing@thomsonreuters.com; 0056 998188538))