A Korean woman died and two U.S. citizens were injured after a gas leak explosion in an apartment complex on Angela Peralta Street in the 20 de Noviembre neighborhood in Tijuana.
According to the Tijuana Fire Department, the deafening roar that occurred around 10 p.m. was heard for miles around.
Several residents of the apartment are of American origin, some who have recently come to the city to escape the rising cost of housing in San Diego, which, combined with inflation and the pandemic, have caused more San Diegans to pack up and move to Tijuana.
One of the neighbors, who had only been living in the apartments for a week, remembered the victim, whose name has not yet been revealed by the authorities.
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"She was a very quiet person, very pretty," said the man who did provide the woman's name. He was visibly affected by what happened. "She always spent a lot of time with her dog in the sun on the roof."
In fact, according to several people interviewed by Telemundo 20, they had only been living in the building for a short time.
Americans have moved into as much as 20% or more of the apartments and houses in Tijuana during the pandemic, many of them driven by high rents in California and the ability to work remotely.
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The newly constructed building where the explosion took place has 14 two- or three-bedroom condominiums, air conditioning, a roof garden, private parking and a community office area, as well as private security. It is located four miles from the border, in front of the Peralta building.
According to Tijuana real estate experts, rents in Tijuana are three times lower than those in San Diego. The United States Consulate in Tijuana said it's estimated that around 1.5 million U.S. citizens live in Mexico. However, the real estate sector believes the figure has risen during the pandemic in Baja California. The arrival of Americans is expanding throughout the city, not only in the so-called Golden Zone.
One of the injured Americans, who who was treated at the General Hospital of Tijuana, suffered third-degree burns and was put on a ventilator. Officials said he would be brought to the U.S. by ambulance to continue his care.
