GUATEMALA CITY
– A key Guatemalan official was ordered
not to leave the country Saturday as the death toll rose to 39 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 20 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.
*FOX NEWS*
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