Mexico daycare fire kills 35 children

HERMOSILLO, Mexico — A fire killed 35 children in a day care center in northern Mexico despite desperate attempts of firefighters and a father who crashed his pickup truck through the wall to rescue babies, toddlers and others trapped inside.

The building had only one exit, according to the fire department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the fire. He said firefighters pulled children through the only door and through large holes that a civilian knocked into the walls before rescue crews arrived.

Noe Velasquez, an employee at a nearby auto parts store who helped pull out five toddlers, said the father of one of the children rammed his pickup truck through a wall.

"I didn't sleep last night. I've never gone through anything like that in all my life," he said Saturday.

The death toll rose to 35 after several children died overnight. At least 41 children and six adults were hospitalized after Friday's fire in ABC day care in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora state Gov. Eduardo Bours said. The adults included staffers at the day care and civilians who tried to help. Some of the children had third-degree burns, an Hermosillo fire department official said.

One child was flown to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento, California, the governor said. Others were sent to a hospital in Guadalara that has a special burns unit.

There were about 142 children in the day care at the time, with ages ranging from six months to 5 years, and six staffers to look after them, Bours said at a news conference Saturday.

The ratio is in keeping with legal standards, said Daniel Karam, the director of Mexico's Social Security Institute, which outsourced services to the privately run day care.

He said a May 26 inspection found that the building — a converted warehouse — complied with safety standards. Asked if the single exit constituted a safety code violation, Karam only repeated that the building passed the inspection, although he conceded that the security requirements might have to be re-evaluated.

"We always have to be open to improvements, especially when we have a tragedy that has so moved us," Karam said.