Locked doors blamed for Paraguay inferno tragedy

The confirmed death toll stood at 318 yesterday, but Independent Channel 4 television said 364 were killed, citing unidentified Interior Ministry officials.

The cause of Paraguay’s worst disaster in decades was not known, but police said they were investigating whether an exploding gas canister in the food court may have started Sunday’s blaze.

The owners, a father and son, denied the doors were locked.

The fire tore through the bustling, three-story supermarket in a suburb of Asuncion, the capital, during lunch hour. The blaze collapsed one floor and engulfed the food court and parking garage.

Officials also said at least 276 people were injured, but Channel 4 put its figure at 524. Government officials had no comments on the station’s higher casualty totals. Also, investigators were trying to determine how many more were inside the building but escaped unharmed.

Esther Benitez, a 30-year-old cashier who suffered burns, said she at first found her way blocked as she tried to escape. “I ran toward the main door but it was locked,” she said from her hospital bed yesterday.

Some neighbours said they were forced to break windows to enter the supermarket because the doors wouldn’t open.

“There were people crowded outside the main entrance using sticks and poles trying to open the door,” said Raul Tamay, who rushed to the supermarket and found his brother, Hernan, who had been shopping inside.

“We couldn’t get inside and the people couldn’t get out,” said Liliana Hernandez, 33, who lives next door to the Ycua Bolanos supermarket.

She said even firefighters, frustrated in their efforts to get inside, resorted to battering holes through a wall of her house to reach the supermarket. “They broke two giant holes in the wall to carry bodies out,” she said.

Juan Pio Paiva, who owns the market with his son, dismissed speculation that the doors had been deliberately locked to prevent looting.

“The security guards confirmed that the doors weren’t closed by them,” he said, angrily. He said he “lamented” the disaster and insisted the building met safety standards. Both men were being held on suspicion of failing to prevent the tragedy.

Attorney General Oscar Latorre called on survivors to describe what happened. Authorities set up a table outside the supermarket – a pink-and-white building occupying nearly an entire city block – to question survivors and other witnesses.

“We need people to come forward and give testimony to help us get to the bottom of this,” Latorre said.

He later said on television that a store manager and a security official for the store had also been detained as part of the investigation.

Rescuers continued to search for bodies yesterday, but Police Chief Aristides Cabral said it appeared unlikely they would find more victims.

Cabral said rescue efforts were hampered by fears the building might collapse. Temperatures were still high in parts of the market.

The head of a volunteer fire brigade, Captain David Rojas, said identification of many of the dead would go slowly. ”We are finding badly mutilated bodies, in some areas only torn limbs,” he said.

Eustaquio Colman, an Interior Ministry official, said some bodies recovered yesterday were burned beyond recognition. US President George Bush, Pope John Paul II and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer were among those sending condolences to Paraguay.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the US Embassy and agencies were working with Paraguayan officials “to identify the emergency assistance that we can provide.”

Neighboring Argentina sent a Hercules transport plane loaded with medicine. Spain was preparing to send in psychological counsellers. Chile promised a C130 plane carrying doctors, medical supplies, and equipment to treat burns.