35 girls who died in fire may have been locked inside

GUATEMALA CITY: Guatemalan human rights officials said they believe that the 35 girls who were killed when a fire swept through a dormitory at a children’s home had been unable to escape because they were locked inside.

As new questions arose over the fire at the Virgen de la Asuncion home, evidence emerged that the girls had been confined to a small room after they had escaped from the residence and been recaptured by police.

“There were 52 girls in that room and if someone locked the doors the consequences are serious,” said Hilda Morales, adjunct prosecutor for human rights.

The locked doors were still a “presumption” that had to be confirmed by Guatemala’s attorney general, Ms Morales added. “The responsibility lies with the staff, the director and the secretary” for social welfare.

Mayra Veliz, general secretary of the attorney general’s office, said a team of 16 prosecutors would handle the investigation.

The health ministry said 23 girls remained in hospital. Officials began to transfer other children and adolescents who lived in the home to other facilities. The children, some of them orphans, came from poor families and many have suffered abuse.

But questions were also raised about the response of firefighters and police. Speaking to a congressional panel on Thursday, police and fire officials blamed each other for a 40-minute delay in reaching the victims. Legislators also heard that only three of the 64 security cameras were working in the home, which housed some 750 children in a space meant for 500.

The fire early on Wednesday has led to an outpouring of grief and anger as evidence of negligence at the home mounted.

Officials have cited troubles at the home since 2013. Last October, a prosecutor recommended shutting it down.

Eric Rosenthal, executive director of Disability Rights International in Washington, said officials from the human rights prosecutor’s office believed that the girls had been locked in as punishment for the protest. It is still unclear how the fire started, he said.

Mr Rosenthal said he was particularly concerned about the fate of residents with disabilities. “There is a tendency to dump them in other places to get rid of them,” he said.

AP A relative of a youth who resided at the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home wails as she waits for the release of the names of those who died in a fire at the shelter, outside the morgue where the bodies are being identified in Guatemala City on...