Peru to install cameras at Machu Picchu after foreign tourists inflict damage

Source:AFP Published: 2020/1/22 18:38:40

A picture showing historic Machu Picchu site Photo: CNSphoto

Peru is installing security cameras at its world-renowned Machu Picchu site after it was damaged earlier this month by foreign tourists, authorities said Tuesday.

"We are going to strengthen security at Machu Picchu by installing high-tech cameras," Jose Bastante, head of the archeological park, told AFP.

Bastante said 18 cameras will be located at three strategic points of the citadel as well as access points from surrounding mountains.

"This will allow us to better control visitors and avoid any action or infraction to the regulations, including any type of risk," he said, adding that drones were also being used for security vigil.

Five tourists accused of damaging the iconic site were deported to Bolivia last week and barred from returning to the country for 15 years. A sixth, from Argentina, was fined $360 and must pay $1,500 to the culture ministry for repairs after he admitted to damaging the Temple of the Sun at the ancient Inca sanctuary.

The Argentine, 28-year-old Nahuel Gomez, also received a suspended sentence of three years and four months but can leave the country once he pays the fine. Members of the group were also suspected of defecating inside the 600-year-old temple.

The Machu Picchu complex is considered to be the most iconic site from the Inca empire, which ruled over a large swath of western South America for 100 years before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.

Machu Picchu, which means "old mountain" in the Quechua language indigenous to the area, is at the top of a lush mountain and was built during the reign of the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438-1471).



Posted in: CULTURE & LEISURE

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