A fire swept through the ABC day care center in Hermosillo, capital city of the northern state of Sonora, on Friday afternoon. The New York Times reports 38 children are dead, between six months of age and five years. Another 30 are wounded, some from asphyxia, and others from burns. The children with serious burns are in intensive care in Mexico and Sacramento, California.
The community’s response has been swift, but bewildered as to how this happened. Shortly after fire engulfed the center around 3p.m. neighbors tried to rescue as many children as possible. “We passed their little bodies from one of us to the next to get them out,” said Roberto Bustamente, who aided the effort. Others are left wondering. A local policemen on the scene reportedly cried out, “Where’s God?”
Media accounts indicate the fire started next door to the day care, at a tire warehouse. In the wake of deadly nightclub fires in 2000 and 2008, important questions remain. Why was a state-run day care facility located next to a building with highly flammable materials? Also, recent visitors have noted that emergency exits were blocked off. Rescuers were forced to knock through brick walls in order to try and save the children. Windows in the center, which passed safety inspections on May 26, were mounted high, making them inaccessible. President Calderón has ordered an investigation, iterating his “profound pain” to the children’s families.
