Riviera Maya, Q.R. — A palapa roof of a building inside the Xcaret theme park burned after being struck by lightning. The entire grass roof was consumed by flames as emergency personnel scrambled to put it out.
On Saturday afternoon, a heavy thunderstorm rolled through the Playa del Carmen – Riviera Maya region bringing with it a significant amount of rain along with at least two hours of lightning strikes.
Before the system left, however, a bolt of lightning struck the building, igniting the grass roof. Visitors to the park videoed the mishap, which was under control as flames swept across the top of the building. Smoke could be seen for kilometers as the large rooftop burned.
In a statement, the Quintana Roo consortium specified that a lightning strike hit one of the palapas in Xcaret Park, which caused a fire that completely consumed its roof. The report states that Grupo Xcaret’s security protocols were immediately activated to contain and completely quell the incident.
“All our palapas have a retardant treatment which allowed us the necessary time to evacuate and cordon off the accident area so that no visitor or injured collaborator was registered.
“Understanding safety as a joint effort, Grupo Xcaret appreciates the timely and prompt response and attention to the call to the H. Fire Department of the municipality of Solidaridad,” said the consortium in its statement.
The 4:00 p.m. fire was eventually put out, leaving behind only material damage. No injuries were reported during the incident.