Posted on 06/07/2009 9:39:23 AM PDT by Big_Monkey
HERMOSILLO, Mexico (CNN) -- Parents of the children trapped in a burning Mexican day care center rammed their vehicles into the building to try to free the trapped children, witnesses told CNN.
At least 38 children died when flames engulfed the building on Friday. Dozens more are in hospitals in Mexico and the United States.
Neighbors described parents arriving at the day care center completely desperate, seeing it engulfed in flames and knowing there was no way to get the children out, CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reported from the scene. They say they could hear the cries of the children and the screams of their parents.
The building had two doors, but one was padlocked shut, officials said. Windows were too high for the children to reach. Video Watch parents gather at site of fire »
"When we went out and ran towards the nursery, teachers already had many children outside, those who could walk properly," said one man at the scene, who did not give his name.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Yep. And this os one of those instances where I’m not going to complain about those in American hospitals. Sometimes its the best possible option.
Lord, take these little ones into your loving care; in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
This isn’t surprising. Building codes in Mexico are lax even when they are enforced. Back in the ‘70s I saw a young girl walk into a glass wall at a nice hotel. The window broke and sent large shards of glass crashing to the floor. Luckily she rebounded from the impact, because if she had continued going forward she likely would have been beheaded one of the large shards of glass. In the US, such a window would be required to have safety glass installed.
These young spirits are back in Heaven now.
Horribly tragic.
What if those parents only had the new ‘crash proof’ Volvos?
When i heard this my heart just dropped
Prayers to the Families and for those lost God bless them all ...
No way for them to get the kids out?
I see lots of lawsuits against the building’s architect if that’s true.
“Yep. And this os one of those instances where I’m not going to complain about those in American hospitals. Sometimes its the best possible option.”
It is pathetic, however, that Mexico doesn’t have the means to care for their own children. I hope they get excellent care here, because they’ll likely sue if they don’t. And no, the hospitals, doctors won’t get paid by anyone south of the border for this.
Mexican building codes became a lot more stringent after their big earthquake a few years ago and this building (which had been built as a warehouse) didn’t seem to have any structural problems.
I think they need to review their usage permits, though, and make sure that a school facility has enough exits. The building was built as a warehouse, which is why it had only two doors and small, high windows.
As usual in cases like this, one exit was padlocked. This happened in NYC a couple of times that I can remember, at nightclubs located in older buildings. The owner would padlock the back door so that people couldn’t sneak in without a ticket. A recipe for disaster, of course.
These poor little kids didn’t have a chance. It’s just terrible and that town must be devastated.
152 children from six months to 5 years, with six adults to care for them? The tragedy in this case started far before the fire.
Amen.
Sometimes I just get so frustrated with all our rules and regulations... but in this case I have to say I’m glad to have such regulations. What a horror this is, my heart goes out to those parents and the children. Lord have mercy.
I agree. They weren’t even supposed to have infants in the place, there were obviously not enough adults, and having a pre-school in a warehouse (which must have been dark and ugly, since the windows were way up high) should have been a non-starter in the first place. They probably kept the door padlocked so the children, who were obviously not very well supervised, couldn’t wander off.
I wonder if this town has maquiladoras? A lot of those places have their own daycare centers, though, while this place seems to have been operating under a contract with the Mexican Social Security Dept. I hope this leads to a big overhaul in their policies (and jail time for some people, because even while their laws and standards may have been lax, this place was clearly in violation of them).
It is always terrible when people want to take shortcuts and make a buck on children and the most vulnerable.
I disagree about the concept of government regulation - This place conformed to all government regulations, for the number of caretakers for the number of children, that it met safety standards, etc. Government regulation in this case gives a false sense of security, nothing can replace a parent looking at a situation and going ‘Heck no, not for my child.’
If the government wasn’t in the daycare business, at least 38 children would not have perished in this fire. And such lessons in Mexico really need to be taken to heart here -
Just because someplace is licensed as a daycare location, it does not mean it’s safe, and you, as a parent, need to check over the place, their policies, and ask about real things that are likely to happen - if you’re in an earthquake area, ask what their plan is in case of a major disaster - will they be keeping your children until you can get there? Is there an out of area next of kin on file with them, just in case the worst happens?
“Building codes in Mexico are lax even when they are enforced.”
It might not be just the building codes: “investigators concluded that the fire did not start inside the ABC Day Care” and “Calderon ordered the nation’s attorney general to investigate the blaze”
Mexico? Drug cartels? Cruelty beyond belief??? Maybe
I was thinking the same thing.....all the rules and regs we have here protect children in daycare from such horrible tragedies....
My heart is so sad for these children and their families.......
Mexico is a corrupt third world dump. Of the five employees I'll bet two were bosses - so 3 employees for 150 kids. Place must have been like a Romanian orphanage.
It started at a tire repair place next door. The day care was in a grungy semi-industrial area.
I agree, parents definitely have that responsibility. But human nature being what it is, I have no objection to the public authority making sure there is at least a minimum health and safety standard for places, particularly when there are children involved.
But it’s true that people too often assume that because it’s licensed, it’s ok. Well, it could be that licensing standards are very low - or it could be that they’re simply being ignored (I bet we’ll find that there were some local officials involved in turning a blind eye to the situation at this Mexican daycare). And the only way a parent can know is to be wary and look at it personally.
It started at a tire repair place next door. The day care was in a grungy semi-industrial area.
__________________________
Could be the daycare was very convenient to where the parents worked
I think it probably was. The parents seem to have been right in the area when the fire broke out and ran over immediately. It’s just a horrible, horrible thing; I hope at least it will result in better standards (and enforcement) for day-care facilities there.
Amen, brother.
So sad.
The last authority I want in determining what's safe for my children is a government that mostly answers to unions, not parents. Elected officials are there via popularity contents, not their sense, and government officials are there because they were picked by the ones who won the popularity contest.
I can only vaguely accept city or state regulation, but even then, they give a false sense of security, and imply standards that may not exist. What was it, 32% of people interviewed thought that cigarette smoking was 'safe' because the government put warning labels on the packages?
We need less or even no regulation on these places. Put the onus back onto parents to check out who's taking care of their kids, and the standards that company (or relative) provides.
Prayers for the innocent.
Indeed. God bless them and keep them.
....and don’t even get started on the effect of earthquakes on Mexican building construction.
We see similar issues in elder care in this country.
Many prayers to the families of these poor children. As a parent....I can’t even imagine the horror and grief.
:*(*****
I see lots of lawsuits against the building’s architect if that’s true.
We're talking Mexico here, not the U.S. Even if they do sue, I doubt in this drug ridden country, that lawsuits would have much effect of even being implemented.
.
Condolences to all. Sheesh.
those parents probably aren’t Windows devs. the quality of the day care reflects the ability of the economy. sad that
circumstances like this exist.
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