World consoles Paraguay
Toll rises to 346
AFP, Asuncion
Condolences poured into Paraguay from neighboring Brazil and Chile and from as far away as France and the Vatican on Monday, after 346 persons died in an Asuncion supermarket fire. French President Jacques Chirac pledged emergency aid to Paraguay and offered his condolences to relatives of those killed in a letter to Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte. "I have asked the government to examine without delay, and in liaison with you, the details about sending emergency aid to the victims and their families," Chirac wrote. The fire tragedy Sunday provoked worldwide sympathies as survivors alleged doors had been locked to prevent theft from the market. Police are investigating those claims. "Most of the people were killed by asphyxiation because they breathed in toxic fumes. If they had been allowed to get out, they would not have died," fire chief Hugo Onieva said.
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Four-month-old baby Enzo Bobadilla Morales, rescued Sunday from the shopping mall in flames by police officer Juan Duarte, who resuscitated him with mouth-to-mouth techniqums while taking him out of the smoldering rubble, recovers in the pediatric ward of a hospital Monday in Asuncion, Paraguay. PHOTO: AFP |
