A Locked Door, a Fire and 41 Girls Killed as Police Stood By
Source: New York Times
A Locked Door, a Fire and 41 Girls Killed as Police Stood By
By Azam Ahmed
Feb. 14, 2019
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — As fire swept through the classroom, the pleas from the 56 girls locked inside began to fade.
Most were unconscious or worse by then, as an eerie silence replaced their panic-stricken shouts.
The police officers guarding the door — who had refused to unlock it despite the screams — waited nine minutes before stepping inside. They got water to cool down the scorching knob.
Inside, dozens of girls placed in the care of the Guatemalan state lay sprawled on the blackened floor. Forty-one of them died.
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Now, nearly two years later, the trials against public officials accused of failing to prevent the deaths have all begun.
But a review of more than two dozen case files of victims and survivors — along with interviews of family members, group home employees and public officials — reveals a pattern of physical, psychological and sexual abuse allegations at the facility stretching back for years.
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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/world/americas/guatemala-shelter-fire-trial.html
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Related: Before Fatal Fire, Trouble Abounded at Guatemala Children’s Home (New York Times)
