29 dead in fire at Mexico day care

Flames engulfed a day-care center Friday in northern Mexico, killing at least 29 children and injuring dozens as neighbors and teachers ran through thick smoke to pull preschoolers from the blaze, officials said.

The fire apparently started at a car and tire depot Friday afternoon and spread to the ABC day-care center in the city of Hermosillo, said Jose Larrinaga, a spokesman for Sonora state investigators. There were about 100 children in the center at the time.

Larrinaga said most of the victims died of asphyxiation.

“We’re still investigating what caused the fire and where exactly it started,” Larrinaga said. It was brought under control within two hours, he said.

Guadalupe Ayala, coordinator of Red Cross rescue workers, said the children were 6 months to 5 years old.

“Firefighters had to knock holes in the walls to get the children,” Ayala said.

The injured were taken to at least five hospitals.

President Felipe Calderon said the Mexican Social Security Institute, which outsourced services to the ABC day-care center, had sent 15 doctors with experience treating burn victims to Hermosillo, as well as three air ambulances, breathing devices and medicine.

Calderon said he had also ordered Atty. Gen. Eduardo Medina Mora to start an investigation.

Most of the city’s police and public safety chiefs were at a meeting in Tucson and returned immediately, Larrinaga said.