- Title: Fire at Guatemala shelter kills 19 girls, police blame arson
- Date: 8th March 2017
- Summary: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (MARCH 08, 2017) (REUTERS) AMBULANCES LEAVING SHELTER WOMEN YELLING AT AUTHORITIES FAMILY MEMBERS ARRIVING AT SHELTER, HUGGING AND CRYING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MOTHER OF GIRL IN HOME, CAROLINA JUAREZ, SAYING: "I am hurting as a mother because she (girl) does not deserve this. I gave her advice. I hope that it is not her (amongst victims)." FAMILIE
- Embargoed: 22nd March 2017 23:45
- Keywords: fire killed girls Guatemala riot
- Location: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
- City: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
- Country: Guatemala
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA001673P8W3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A fire tore through a home for abused teenagers and children in Guatemala, killing at least 19 girls on Wednesday (March 08) after some residents set mattresses ablaze following an overnight attempt to escape from the overcrowded centre, officials reported.
A crowd of relatives, some wailing with grief, gathered outside the government-run Virgen de Asuncion home for youth up to 18 years of age, in San Jose Pinula, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of the capital Guatemala City.
At the scene 19 people, all girls, were confirmed dead. Local hospitals reported at least 40 others being treated for burns.
This distraught mother arrived at the home hopeful that her daughter was not amongst the dead.
"I am hurting as a mother because she (girl) does not deserve this. I gave her advice. I hope that it is not her (amongst victims)," said mother, Carolina Juarez.
The blaze started when a group of young people who had been isolated by authorities after a riot and an escape attempt at the centre on Tuesday (March 07) night set fire to mattresses, police reported.
"(Reporter: What can you say about what happened here?) It is a tragedy and unfortunate that it is on this day when working women were chanting for their rights. It is tragic. (Reporter: What can you say to the world about this, they're children?) It is a great shame for the state and for the whole world," said Supreme Court Magistrate, Maria Eugenia Morales.
Authorities are investigating whether those who started the blaze were the same ones who tried to escape.
"That is the situation currently, with the Public Ministry, with the National Civil Police to establish what happened, how it happened, determine legal responsibility to determine if there is an official responsible for this or people who have intervened or stopped from intervening for this to have happened," the head of investigations at the police force, Stu Velazco, told media.
Burnt bodies partially covered in blankets were strewn across the floor of a blackened room in the home, pictures posted to Twitter by the firefighters showed.
President Jimmy Morales declared three days of national mourning, and the government criticized conditions at the home.
Authorities have pledged a transparent investigation into the cause of the blaze and complaints have been made to high levels of the government.
"It is an unfortunate incident and consequently we are obliged as the Attorney General to denounce this to the Public Ministry with the objective of finding out what caused this incident and to determine responsibility for those responsible," said Guatemala's Solicitor General, Anabella Morfin.
Plagued by Latin America's worst rates of child malnutrition and street gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha which often prey on minors, Guatemala can be a traumatic place to grow up. Conditions in the Central American nation's public institutions are often dismal with widespread overcrowding.
The Virgen de Asuncion home has long suffered from overcrowding, with Guatemalan media reporting that more than 500 people were crammed into the center designed to house 400. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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