PARAGUAY: Investigators in Paraguay searched for evidence yesterday that security guards might have trapped shoppers in a burning supermarket by locking the doors to stop looting, while the death toll in the country's worst tragedy in decades rose to up to 320.
President Nicanor Duarte Frutos called for a rapid investigation into Sunday's blaze "so those responsible are punished with the full force of the law".
Paraguay's police chief Mr Humberto Nunez said: "There are several witnesses who saw how they shut the doors to the supermarket and we also confirmed that the emergency exit was welded."
Three owners of the Ycua Bolanos supermarket and three security guards are in police custody, but main shareholder Mr Juan Pio Paiva said no orders were given to lock the doors.
"The company has insurance against vandalism," he told a news conference. "It does not make sense in a fire of this magnitude for security guards to close the doors and stay inside."
The fire swept through the supermarket on the outskirts of the capital Asuncion at midday on Sunday when it was packed with shoppers. Officials said the blaze was caused by a gas explosion near the food court.
"As we ran to the exit, I looked back and saw a ball of fire and the roof fall on several people," said survivor Liz Torres, who was classified as not being in "serious condition" but whose face, lips and hands were completely blackened.
Flames quickly engulfed a parking lot underneath and several charred corpses were found in their burnt cars. "There are 292 dead, but we believe there are another 40 bodies in the building," said police public relations chief Mr Santiago Velasco. Rescuers removed charred body parts in small black garbage bags yesterday.
The Ministry of Health reported 256 people hospitalised, 70 of them in intensive care.
Paraguay, a country of six million, called the fire its worst tragedy since a 1930s war with neighbouring Bolivia that killed thousands. The government declared yesterday a day of national mourning and suspended all official activities and school classes.
The magnitude of the fire stretched the country's public services. Hospitals were overwhelmed by the hundreds of injured suffering from burns and lung damage. "This event revealed how insufficient we are in human resources and infrastructure to diligently handle a catastrophe," newspaper Ultima Hora said in its editorial.
Foreign governments have begun to mobilise urgent medical aid. Neighbouring Argentina sent a Hercules transport plane loaded with medication and bandages to Asuncion and former colonial ruler Spain was sending supplies and teams for psychological counselling.
Pope John Paul sent his condolences to the mostly Roman Catholic country, while French President Jacques Chirac ordered his government to study ways of offering emergency aid to help victims and their families.
Meanwhile, families made their way to a makeshift morgue in a sports club on the outskirts of the city in a desperate search for relatives.- (Reuters)