Paraguay Supermarket Fire Death Toll Rises to 124

ASUNCION, Paraguay (Reuters) - At least 124 people have died after a fire swept through a supermarket on the outskirts of Paraguay's capital Asuncion, the country's police chief said on Sunday.

"They are still taking bodies out of the supermarket," Paraguay's police chief Humberto Nunez told Reuters.

[url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20040801/wl_nm/paraguay_fire_dc]Very Sad News[/url] :(

I'm watching it on tv... :shock:

(the Paraguay news guy just said: well... there's no football today, so we'lll just keep informing on this...)

jesus christ. thats awful news.

Re:: Paraguay Supermarket Fire

Somebody pass out the fire exstigushers and get the firemen a medal and a raise.

I heard on the news today that the death toll is so high because allegedly they locked the fire exits to prevent looting.Jesus christ,anything for money eh?

[quote=GregWhelan]I heard on the news today that the death toll is so high because allegedly they locked the fire exits to prevent looting.Jesus christ,anything for money eh?[/quote]

If that is true then someone should pay big time. Who puts money before human saftey. :thumbs Down:

[quote=GregWhelan]I heard on the news today that the death toll is so high because allegedly they locked the fire exits to prevent looting.Jesus christ,anything for money eh?[/quote]

that is fucking awful :shock:

update as of today (also from [url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=4&u=/ap/20040802/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/paraguay_supermarket_fire]yahoo news[/url])

"Survivors of an inferno in a crowded supermarket said locked doors slowed their escape from the fast-spreading fire that killed at least 296 people, Paraguay's worst disaster in more than half a century.

Hundreds more were injured, many with serious burns, after flames swept through the multilevel Ycua Bolanos supermarket on the outskirts of the capital, Asuncion, while it was crowded with Sunday afternoon shoppers.

Attorney General Oscar German LaTorre put the death toll at 296 but said the search resumed at daylight Monday for victims. Earlier, Paraguay's Channel 9 had reported 340 bodies recovered and hundreds of people injured, citing unofficial accounts by rescue workers and police.

Officials said the fire was the deadliest incident in Paraguay since a failed military insurrection in 1947 left some 8,000 people dead.

The heat of the blaze caused one floor to collapse, crushing dozens of cars in the parking lot as flames engulfed motorists inside, police said. Badly burned bodies, some with twisted limbs, were whisked away as black billows of smoke rose overhead. Rescuers led away dozens of children found near the store's toy department.

"This is a moment of great anguish," said President Nicanor Duarte, who declared three days of national mourning. Classes were canceled in Asuncion and people jammed hospitals and clinics to donate blood.

Authorities said they had detained two owners of the supermarket for questioning about reports by some survivors that doors had been locked. A statement released by the management denied doors were locked after the fire broke out to prevent looting.

Police said they were also investigating survivor accounts the fire may have been fueled by an exploding gas canister in the food court area. Authorities said they still had not concluded what cause the blaze.

Overnight, army troops somberly unloaded truckloads of wooden coffins at makeshift morgues. Tearful relatives filed in early Monday to identify bodies and funerals were being planned at cemeteries around the capital.

Meanwhile, at hospitals police held back sobbing people as the injured, some covered in gold foil blankets, were rushed into emergency rooms on stretchers.

One survivor who identified himself as Victor Catan told Argentina's TodoNoticias television network, that he lost his wife in the blaze but escaped with his young son by stumbling out in the dark.

"I managed to get out with son, but my wife didn't make it," Catan said, adding he was still searching for her.

Several levels of the multilevel supermarket were covered in soot, including a lower level parking garage where cars were crushed and burned.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene said hundreds of neighbors living nearby rushed to the scene, helping to carry bodies from the building as firefighters held water hoses. One woman, her face caked in soot, cried as she was carried away on the shoulders of a rescuer.

Stretched for emergency services including medical equipment, Paraguayan authorities frantically sought additional ambulances from remote interior cities and even neighboring Argentina.

Public Health Minister Julio Cesar Velazquez told reporters, "I have never seen a disaster like this. The firefighters were taking out, as best as they could, the bodies, the injured and people suffering from smoke inhalation. It's horrible."

District police commander Aristides Cabral said an explosion reportedly was heard before fire swept through the building.

"There was an explosion inside and the heat forced the bottom floor supporting the basement to give way, crushing dozens of people," he said."

That sucks man, someone should make mental notes not to lock emergency exit doors from now on.

Re:: Paraguay Supermarket Fire

I'm heard ,and watching it...unfortunately.. :cry: :Scared: :Down:

it's terrible.

talking with my maid about this yesterday (she's from paraguay ) she told me that her son happen works at that supermarket, and fortunately he skipped work that day. really incredible

:shock:

man, picked the right day to miss work. unimaginable what people down there must be going through right now.

That sucks, poor people, in this continent that things are very normal but it stills shock me.

Re:: Paraguay Supermarket Fire

Here's [url]http://www.elmundo.es/fotografia/2004/08/asuncion/imagen11.html[/url] one of the owner's of the supermarket.

The news also tells, that when one of the bomber's tried to open one of the blocked doors, he was shot by the security personnel of the place.

Bad taste :evil:

[url]http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/12298654?source=Evening%20Standard[/url]

yet another article on it... that is messed up. i think i'd be crazy enough to kill the owner and feel no remorse. how could somebody do that? 600 dead possibly!! dude, that ias wrong

Re:: Paraguay Supermarket Fire

what the hell is going on? anything for money? that's awful...shit.

Re:: Paraguay Supermarket Fire

Heard about it today.340 dead people!

Re:: Paraguay Supermarket Fire

a tragedy that should never have happened, there are more than 350 persons died by the negligence of closing the doors of access for fear of thefts

:cry:

the owner should have his fucking brains blown out :Die: :evil:

think they have the death penalty down there?