19-girls burnt to death in a Guatemala fire incident

Guatemala’s Justice Ministry said it would investigate a fire at a state-run juvenile home near Guatemala City that left at least 19 dead on Wednesday, local media reported.

The dead at Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion, in San Jose Pinula, 21 kilometres outside the capital, were all girls between the ages of 14 and 17, authorities said.

Dozens more were hospitalized, mostly in a serious condition. Guatemala City’s Roosevelt Hospital was treating 18 victims for second and third degree burns, hospital director Carlos Soto said.

Firefighters posted photographs on social media of what appeared to be numerous ash-smeared bodies partially covered by blankets in a large room.

The Guatemala office of the United Nations Children’s Fund criticized the incident, saying “these children and adolescents must be protected” in a message on its Twitter account.

The deaths “make us ask ourselves, as a state, what are we doing?” former attorney general Thelma Aldana said, according to news reports.

Family members of those housed at the centre gathered outside it Wednesday in scenes of chaos and consternation, as firefighters carried out survivors crying in pain.

The Hogar Seguro – “safe home” – housed more than 600 juveniles. It was created for girls taken from dangerous or abusive homes into state custody, but also housed some who had committed crimes. Boys and girls were housed in separate facilities.

NAN