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Death toll in Guatemala shelter fire rises to 28

Author
AAP,
Publish Date
Fri, 10 Mar 2017, 6:42AM
Doctors had warned the severity of the burns suffered by many victims put their lives at risk. (Getty)
Doctors had warned the severity of the burns suffered by many victims put their lives at risk. (Getty)

Death toll in Guatemala shelter fire rises to 28

Author
AAP,
Publish Date
Fri, 10 Mar 2017, 6:42AM

Hospital officials say the death toll in a fire at a youth shelter in Guatemala has risen to 28 after several more girls died overnight of severe burns.

Doctors had warned the severity of the burns suffered by many victims put their lives at risk. Nineteen girls were found dead at the scene, and spokesmen for two hospitals in Guatemala City said nine more died overnight. Dozens more remain under treatment.

The fire started after a mass escape. Dozens of teens held in an overcrowded state-run shelter on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital flooded through the gates Tuesday evening, only for most to be caught and locked down in their dorms.

On Wednesday morning someone set fire to mattresses in the girls' section of the rural campus, authorities said. The blaze quickly spread through two dorms.

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