GUATEMALA CITY — Hospital officials say the death toll has risen to 38 girls in a fire that began when mattresses were set ablaze during a protest by residents at a youth shelter.

Authorities at the Roosevelt Hospital where many of the girls were taken for treatment of their burns said Saturday that another girl had died. Nineteen of the adolescents perished at the scene of the Wednesday inferno and another 19 died later in local hospitals.

Various groups have said they plan to gather Saturday to protest the deaths and demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

The president has blamed the government's "rigid" and "insensitive" system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.</s>GUATEMALA CITY - Hospital officials say the death toll has risen to 38 girls in a fire that began when mattresses were set ablaze during a protest by residents at a youth shelter.

 

Authorities at the Roosevelt Hospital where many of the girls were taken for treatment of their burns said Saturday that another girl had died. Nineteen of the adolescents perished at the scene of the Wednesday inferno and another 19 died later in local hospitals.

 

Various groups have said they plan to gather Saturday to protest the deaths and demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

 

The president has blamed the government's "rigid" and "insensitive" system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.</s>GUATEMALA CITY — A key Guatemalan official was ordered not to leave the country Saturday as the death toll rose to 38 girls in fire that began when mattresses were set ablaze during a protest by residents at a youth shelter.

Authorities continued searching over the weekend for answers in the disaster that has put a spotlight on alleged failings in Guatemala's child protective services.

The head of the protective services agency, Carlos Rodas, was ordered not to leave Guatemala by a judge on Saturday while investigations into the blaze continue, according to prosecutors' spokeswoman Julia Barrera.

Authorities at the Roosevelt Hospital where many of the girls were taken for treatment of their burns said Saturday that another girl had died. Nineteen of the adolescents perished at the scene of the Wednesday inferno and another 19 died later in local hospitals.

Various groups have said they plan to gather Saturday to protest the deaths and demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

The president has blamed the government's "rigid" and "insensitive" system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.

Morales blamed the Guatemalan state during a Friday news conference for the tragedy and said that all of the government institutions in charge of minors played a role.

Carlos Soto, administrator of Hospital San Juan de Dios, another hospital caring for many of the burned children, told The Associated Press on Friday that medical specialists had arrived from Galveston, Texas, to help evaluate the condition of several with the intention of having them travel to the United States for treatment.

On Saturday, Soto said that it was hoped that at least four of the girls could travel to the United States this weekend. He said the adolescents had burns on their faces, torsos and legs.

Officials say the fire began when mattresses were set afire during a protest by residents at the shelter housing hundreds of boys and girls. Questions remained over why someone among the girls set the blaze and whether doors remained locked as the girls pleaded for their lives.

Widespread reports by some victims' relatives have said that some of the girls set mattresses on fire to protest their apprehension and return to the facility after fleeing the previous night because of mistreatment, bad food and fears of rape.

Parents and relatives said many of the young people at the shelter had been sent there because of abuse, poverty or family problems. Others were ordered there by judges after run-ins with police, officials said.</s>GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A key Guatemalan official was ordered not to leave the country Saturday as the death toll rose to 38 girls in fire that began when mattresses were set ablaze during a protest by residents at a youth shelter.

Authorities continued searching over the weekend for answers in the disaster that has put a spotlight on alleged failings in Guatemala’s child protective services.

The head of the protective services agency, Carlos Rodas, was ordered not to leave Guatemala by a judge on Saturday while investigations into the blaze continue, according to prosecutors’ spokeswoman Julia Barrera.

Authorities at the Roosevelt Hospital where many of the girls were taken for treatment of their burns said Saturday that another girl had died. Nineteen of the adolescents perished at the scene of the Wednesday inferno and another 19 died later in local hospitals.

Various groups have said they plan to gather Saturday to protest the deaths and demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

The president has blamed the government’s “rigid” and “insensitive” system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.

Morales blamed the Guatemalan state during a Friday news conference for the tragedy and said that all of the government institutions in charge of minors played a role.

Carlos Soto, administrator of Hospital San Juan de Dios, another hospital caring for many of the burned children, told The Associated Press on Friday that medical specialists had arrived from Galveston, Texas, to help evaluate the condition of several with the intention of having them travel to the United States for treatment.

On Saturday, Soto said that it was hoped that at least four of the girls could travel to the United States this weekend. He said the adolescents had burns on their faces, torsos and legs.

Officials say the fire began when mattresses were set afire during a protest by residents at the shelter housing hundreds of boys and girls. Questions remained over why someone among the girls set the blaze and whether doors remained locked as the girls pleaded for their lives.

Widespread reports by some victims’ relatives have said that some of the girls set mattresses on fire to protest their apprehension and return to the facility after fleeing the previous night because of mistreatment, bad food and fears of rape.

Parents and relatives said many of the young people at the shelter had been sent there because of abuse, poverty or family problems. Others were ordered there by judges after run-ins with police, officials said.</s>SAN JOSE PINULA, Guatemala -- Guatemala declared three days of mourning after a blaze Wednesday in a government-run children's shelter killed at least 22 teenage girls and focused attention on allegations of sexual and other abuse in the facility.

All those killed were aged between 14 and 17.

Most died of burns in the fire in the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home in San Jose Pinula, 10 kilometers east of Guatemala City, officials said.

A total of 38 other people were injured, 16 of them in critical condition, hospital officials said.

President Jimmy Morales said on national television that he had ordered the dismissal of the shelter's director.

The blaze was believed to have started during an overnight rebellion in the center, which holds nearly double the 400 people it was designed to house. Some youths tried to escape, news reports said.

Morales said that before the fire, orders had been given to transfer some of the youths to other facilities because of the overcrowding.

"They were serving food to the teenagers when some of them started a fire in a mattress and that's how the fire was set," said Abner Paredes, a prosecutor defending children's rights.

Human rights activists held a vigil Wednesday night, lighting candles and placing flowers outside the shelter and in the main square in Guatemala City.

"It was a ticking time bomb. This was to be expected," one of the center's former employees, Angel Cardenas, said outside.

He said he had lodged several warnings about conditions inside.

At the entrance of the shelter — whose imposing, barbed wire-topped concrete wall showed no sign of the drama inside — crying relatives crowded the entrance. They were searching for news of the children kept there. Police blocked access to them and to journalists.

A few survivors were seen hugging kin on the pine tree-lined road. But many other family members were left unattended.

"They don't want to give any information at all," said Rosa Aguirre, a 22-year-old street vendor who had rushed from the capital to see if her two sisters, aged 13 and 15, and her 17-year-old brother were among the casualties.

She said many frustrated people had gone to hospitals to see if their relatives were there.

Aguirre said she too had lodged complaints about how the center's residents were treated, but received no attention.

She said brawls broke out inside often, and her brother was sometimes put in a dark isolation cell nicknamed the "chicken coop."

She said she had tried in vain to gain custody of her siblings after their mother's death four months ago.

Guatemalan media said the shelter's occupants had revolted overnight and into Wednesday against alleged sexual abuse by staff, and over poor food and conditions.

The center, supervised by state authorities, hosts minors under age 18 who are victims of domestic violence or found living on the street.

They are sent there by court order and are under the responsibility of the social welfare ministry.

The shelter has been the target of multiple complaints alleging abuse. Dozens of children have run away in the past year, reportedly to escape ill treatment.</s>GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - The death toll has risen to 38 girls in a fire that began when mattresses were set ablaze during a protest by residents at a youth shelter, hospital officials said Saturday.

As the number of dead slowly rose, the search continued over the weekend for answers in the disaster that has put a spotlight on alleged failings in Guatemala's child protective services.

Authorities at the Roosevelt Hospital where many of the girls were taken for treatment of their burns said Saturday that another girl had died. Nineteen of the adolescents perished at the scene of the Wednesday inferno and another 19 died later in local hospitals.

Various groups have said they plan to gather Saturday to protest the deaths and demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

The president has blamed the government's "rigid" and "insensitive" system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.

Morales blamed the Guatemalan state during a Friday news conference for the tragedy and said that all of the government institutions in charge of minors played a role.

Officials say the fire began when mattresses were set afire during a protest by residents at the shelter housing hundreds of boys and girls. Questions remained over why someone among the girls set the blaze and whether doors remained locked as the girls pleaded for their lives.

Widespread reports by some victims' relatives have said that some of the girls set mattresses on fire to protest their apprehension and return to the facility after fleeing the previous night because of mistreatment, bad food and fears of rape.

Parents and relatives said many of the young people at the shelter had been sent there because of abuse, poverty or family problems. Others were ordered there by judges after run-ins with police, officials said.</s>The death toll from a fire at a children's shelter in Guatemala has risen to 38.

The fire broke out in a tiny room where the victims had been locked after a riot.

There were 52 teenage girls packed into the 16 square metre classroom when Wednesday's blaze broke out at the Virgen de la Asuncion home in San Jose Pinula.

The shelter provides a home for children who have suffered abuse, homelessness, or have completed sentences at youth detention centres and had nowehere else to go.
• Children's home fire in Guatemala started in tiny room girls had been locked in after riot

The youths who survived suffered such severe burns that specialists were flown in from Texas, and it is hoped that four of the girls will be flown to the US for treatment.

Hundreds of blood donors were needed, medics said.

At least 10 girls remain in critical conditions.

The government has sacked the director of the now temporarily closed centre.

Various groups have said they plan to protest on Saturday over the deaths and demand the resignation of the country's President Jimmy Morales.

The President has blamed the government's "rigid" and "insensitive" system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.

President Morales blamed the Guatemalan state during a Friday news conference for the tragedy and said that all of the government institutions in charge of minors played a role.

Claudia Lopez, Guatemala's deputy ombudsman for human rights, said: "The staff left the girls in an extremely reduced space, a four-metre by four-metre room, for 52 teenage girls. It was a terribly thought out decision."

Police and witnesses say the fire appeared to have been started by one of the girls, who set light to a mattress in the room, possibly as a protest after hours inside.

Ms Lopez added: "If it really was the girls who started the fire - why did they have matches in their hand, why were they not searched if they were going to be locked into this tiny space?"

The riot began when a group of teenagers complaining about the conditions inside feigned a fight in the lunch hall as a distraction, before attacking staff and trying to escape, one eyewitness said.

After hours of rioting, police captured most of those who had fled and they were separated from the hundreds of other residents in the complex, according to an account written by the government's human rights department.

During five hours of negotiations that evening, the leaders of the rebellion alleged abuse by the staff including rotten food and the use of bleach on their skin and pepper spray as punishment for bad behaviour, according to the document.

At around 1am, the 52 girls were locked into a classroom and given thin mattresses to sleep on, local police chief Wilson Maldonado told a congressional commission. Boys involved in the trouble were kept in a separate area, an employee at the home said.

At about 9am, police stationed outside the room noticed smoke seeping out, Maldonado said. However, one witness said the fire started 30 minutes earlier and police initially ignored the cries for help, thinking the girls were protesting.</s>Families have buried some of the 38 girls killed in a fire at an overcrowded government-run youth shelter in Guatemala as authorities try to determine exactly what happened.

The death toll mounted as girls succumbed to burns from Wednesday’s disaster, which officials said began when mattresses were set on fire during a protest by the shelter’s residents.

Questions remained over why someone among the girls set the blaze and whether doors remained locked as the girls pleaded for their lives.

Parents and relatives said many of the young people at the shelter, which had both female and male residents, had been sent there because of abuse, poverty or family problems. Others were ordered there by judges after run-ins with police, officials said.

Authorities at the Roosevelt Hospital where many of the girls were taken for treatment of their burns said on Saturday that another girl had died, taking the death toll to 38. Nineteen of the girls died at the scene and another 19 died later in local hospitals.

Various groups have said they plan to gather on Saturday to protest the deaths and demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

The president has blamed the government’s “rigid” and “insensitive” system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.

Carlos Soto, administrator of Hospital San Juan de Dios, another hospital caring for many of the burned children, said medical specialists had arrived from Galveston, Texas, to help evaluate the condition of several with the intention of having them travel to the United States for treatment.

Mr Soto said that it was hoped that at least four of the girls could travel to the US this weekend. He said the girls had burns on their faces, torsos and legs.</s>The death toll from a fire at a children's shelter in Guatemala has risen to 38. The fire broke out in a tiny room where the victims had been locked after a riot. There were 52 teenage girls packed into the 16 square metre classroom when Wednesday's blaze broke out at the Virgen de la Asuncion home in San Jose Pinula. The shelter provides a home for children who have suffered abuse, homelessness, or have completed sentences at youth detention centres and had nowehere else to go.

The youths who survived suffered such severe burns that specialists were flown in from Texas, and it is hoped that four of the girls will be flown to the US for treatment. Hundreds of blood donors were needed, medics said. At least 10 girls remain in critical conditions. The government has sacked the director of the now temporarily closed centre. Various groups have said they plan to protest on Saturday over the deaths and demand the resignation of the country's President Jimmy Morales. The President has blamed the government's "rigid" and "insensitive" system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country. President Morales blamed the Guatemalan state during a Friday news conference for the tragedy and said that all of the government institutions in charge of minors played a role.

Claudia Lopez, Guatemala's deputy ombudsman for human rights, said: "The staff left the girls in an extremely reduced space, a four-metre by four-metre room, for 52 teenage girls. It was a terribly thought out decision." Police and witnesses say the fire appeared to have been started by one of the girls, who set light to a mattress in the room, possibly as a protest after hours inside. Ms Lopez added: "If it really was the girls who started the fire - why did they have matches in their hand, why were they not searched if they were going to be locked into this tiny space?"

The riot began when a group of teenagers complaining about the conditions inside feigned a fight in the lunch hall as a distraction, before attacking staff and trying to escape, one eyewitness said. After hours of rioting, police captured most of those who had fled and they were separated from the hundreds of other residents in the complex, according to an account written by the government's human rights department. During five hours of negotiations that evening, the leaders of the rebellion alleged abuse by the staff including rotten food and the use of bleach on their skin and pepper spray as punishment for bad behaviour, according to the document. At around 1am, the 52 girls were locked into a classroom and given thin mattresses to sleep on, local police chief Wilson Maldonado told a congressional commission. Boys involved in the trouble were kept in a separate area, an employee at the home said. At about 9am, police stationed outside the room noticed smoke seeping out, Maldonado said. However, one witness said the fire started 30 minutes earlier and police initially ignored the cries for help, thinking the girls were protesting.</s>GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A key Guatemalan official was ordered not to leave the country Saturday as the death toll rose to 38 girls in fire that began when mattresses were set ablaze during a protest by residents at a youth shelter.

Authorities continued searching over the weekend for answers in the disaster that has put a spotlight on alleged failings in Guatemala’s child protective services.

The head of the protective services agency, Carlos Rodas, was ordered not to leave Guatemala by a judge on Saturday while investigations into the blaze continue, according to prosecutors’ spokeswoman Julia Barrera.

Authorities at the Roosevelt Hospital where many of the girls were taken for treatment of their burns said Saturday that another girl had died. Nineteen of the adolescents perished at the scene of the Wednesday inferno and another 19 died later in local hospitals.

Various groups have said they plan to gather Saturday to protest the deaths and demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

The president has blamed the government’s “rigid” and “insensitive” system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.

Morales blamed the Guatemalan state during a Friday news conference for the tragedy and said that all of the government institutions in charge of minors played a role.

Carlos Soto, administrator of Hospital San Juan de Dios, another hospital caring for many of the burned children, told The Associated Press on Friday that medical specialists had arrived from Galveston, Texas, to help evaluate the condition of several with the intention of having them travel to the United States for treatment.

On Saturday, Soto said that it was hoped that at least four of the girls could travel to the United States this weekend. He said the adolescents had burns on their faces, torsos and legs.

Officials say the fire began when mattresses were set afire during a protest by residents at the shelter housing hundreds of boys and girls. Questions remained over why someone among the girls set the blaze and whether doors remained locked as the girls pleaded for their lives.

Widespread reports by some victims’ relatives have said that some of the girls set mattresses on fire to protest their apprehension and return to the facility after fleeing the previous night because of mistreatment, bad food and fears of rape.

Parents and relatives said many of the young people at the shelter had been sent there because of abuse, poverty or family problems. Others were ordered there by judges after run-ins with police, officials said.
The death toll at the fire at an orphanage in San José Pinula, Guatemala, rises to at least 38 children.