A short circuit or overheating in an air conditioning system in an adjacent warehouse may have caused a fire that killed 44 young children in a day care center in northern Mexico, the state's attorney general has said.
The Sonora state health department reported that one child died on Sunday from injuries suffered in the blaze at the ABC day care in Hermosillo, and 2-year-old girl died on Monday shortly before she was to board a flight to California for treatment. The deaths brought the total from Friday's fire to 44.
More than 30 children and adults with severe burns and smoke inhalation were struggling to survive in hospitals in Mexico and the United States.
Sonora Governor Eduardo Bours vowed to fully investigate the fire and said authorities have called in the day care center's owners, employees and others for questioning.
"No one is above the law," Bours told Televisa network. "We are going to look for the causes, find those responsible
and nothing will stop us. The ... children who have died and their parents deserve at least that."
Sonora state attorney general Abel Murrieta said the fire may have been started by overheating or a short circuit at an
air conditioning vent in a neighboring car and tire warehouse.
Sonora state attorney general Abel Murrieta said the fire may have been started by overheating or a short circuit at an
air conditioning vent in a neighboring car and tire warehouse.
"That's the most convincing theory investigators have found," Murrieta told a news conference in Hermosillo.