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 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 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 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. 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. 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. 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.
The death toll at the fire at an orphanage in San José Pinula, Guatemala, rises to at least 38 children.