2. At least 21 teenagers have died after a fire broke out in an overcrowded government-run institution for abused teens near Guatemala’s capital city.
The fire broke out in the Virgen de Asunción home, near Guatemala City, early Wednesday morning. 19 girls died in the blaze, and another two died after they were transported to hospital, Diaro De Centro America reported. Dozens more, all aged between 13 and 17, are being treated for burns, Reuters reported.
The cause of the fire has not been officially determined but government officials said it began after some of the children set fire to a mattress and attempted to escape during a riot.
Distraught relatives, many of who have camped outside the home to demand answers from the government, claim the shelter’s officials were abusing the teenagers.
The director of the home, Santos Torres, was removed by the government on Thursday as part of an investigation into Wednesday’s incident.
As anger mounts, Guatemala’s attorney general has filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, according to the attorney general’s spokesperson, to determine what happened on Tuesday night.
As many as 60 teenagers escaped on the same evening, according to Prensa Libre. The local newspaper said the children had been placed in the home because they had been victims of domestic violence, trafficking, sexual abuse, or were found on the streets.
Since 2015, the home had been reported for allegedly perpetuating the very abuses many of the children were supposed to be kept away from.
Alicia López, 50, whose 12-year-old autistic son was in the home, told Reuters he had been raped last week. “I still don’t have information,” she said, as she waited outside the building on Wednesday. “I want justice for him.”
Although the center only had capacity for 500 children, it’s been said to house as many as 800 at the time of the fire. Last year, UNICEF’s Justo Solórzano, a specialist in child protection, said the home should be closed because it failed to meet international safety standards.
As families waited for answers on Wednesday, vigils were held outside the home in the semi-rural suburb of San José Pinula, south-east of the country’s capital.
President Jimmy Morales has declared three days of national mourning.
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