GUATEMALA CITY (AP) A spokesman for Guatemala’s volunteer fire departments said at least 19 people were found dead at the scene of a fire in a shelter for children near Guatemala City on Wednesday, March 8. A crowd of relatives, many of them wailing with grief, gathered outside the Virgen de Asuncion home for children up to 18 years old, in the municipality of San Jose Pinula, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of the capital Guatemala City. Guatemala's volunteer fire department has reported 19 people dead and 25 injured following a fire at an orphanage in the Las Anonas area of San José Pinula, Guatemala.A spokesman for the volunteer firefighters told local radio station Emisoras Unidas that 11 girls from the orphanage have been transferred to the San Juan de Dios general hospital, with nine in critical condition and three undergoing surgery, reports the AP.A further six children were transferred to the Roosevelt Hospital with first and second degree burns.According to Leonel Dubón of the Children's Refuge charity, there had already been calls by the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission ( PDH ) for the orphanage to be closed.
A fire breaks out at an orphanage in San José Pinula, Guatemala after students protesting conditions including alleged sexual and physical abuse set fire to their bedding, killing at least 19 children.