Survivors of an inferno in a Paraguay supermarket say fire doors were locked preventing some the 311 confirmed dead from escaping. The owners of the shopping centre manager has been arrested amid claims that management locked exits to prevent looting.
Attorney General Oscar German LaTorre said 311 people had been killed in the raging fire that erupted during the midday shopping. TV news reports suggest that up to 340 may ahve died while hundreds were injured.
"This is a moment of great anguish," President Nicanor Duarte said as he declared three days of national mourning.
An exploding gas canister is thought to be responsible for the fire at the multi-level Ycua Bolanos Paraguay's capital Asuncion yesterday.
Schools were closed in Asuncion today, and people jammed hospitals and clinics to donate blood.
Authorities said they had arrested two owners of the supermarket for questioning about reports by some survivors that doors had been locked. But Mr Juan Pio Paiva, one of the detained owners, angrily denied the claims.
"The security guards confirmed that the doors were not closed by them," he said, reading from a statement in which he said he "lamented" the disaster and added the building met with necessary safety standards.
The heat of the blaze caused one floor to collapse, crushing dozens of cars in the car park as flames engulfed motorists, police said.
Badly burned bodies, some with twisted limbs, were whisked away as black billows of smoke rose overhead. Rescuers led away dozens of children found near the store's toy department.
Fearful of dangers of working in the still-smouldering building overnight, rescue workers and firefighters resumed digging today, trying to work their way further into a crushed parking garage and food court. Authorities warned they still could find further victims in the sprawling complex.
The head of a volunteer fire brigade, Captain David Rojas, said identification of many of the remains would be slow. "We are finding badly mutilated bodies, in some areas only torn limbs," he said.
Overnight, army troops sombrely unloaded truckloads of wooden coffins at makeshift morgues.
Tearful relatives filed in today to identify bodies and funerals were being planned at cemeteries around the capital.
AP