Six people were indicted for manslaughter after allegedly locking a crowded Asuncion store to prevent theft during a massive blaze, court sources said Tuesday, as some reports of the death toll rose as high as 464.
Juan Pio Paiva, who owns the Ycua Bolanos shopping center, his son Daniel and four security guards are formally accused of locking the doors "so no one would leave without paying," the sources said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The charges claim Daniel Paiva ordered security personnel to shut all exits, and helped them do so, thereby preventing hundreds of clients from fleeing the building and "causing the death of more than 300 people."
Authorities on Tuesday updated the toll, saying 367 people had been killed and 409 injured in Sunday's blaze on the outskirts of the Paraguayan capital.
"Children, women and men were burned to death or asphyxiated, and hundreds more suffered severe burns," the charges said.
Public prosecutor Edgar Sanchez quoted one of the guards as telling investigators he had "heard over internal radio an order to close the exit doors."
Sanchez and fellow prosecutor Teresa Sosa asked that the six be held in preventive detention and that authorities seize their assets up to a value of US$10 million.
All six suspects were charged with manslaughter.
The prosecutors also requested that the store's manager, Humberto Casaccia, be placed under house arrest for allegedly "failing to render assistance."
Casaccia is accused of fleeing the scene rather than help those trapped inside the store during the blaze.
At one stage one of the guards shot at a firefighter who sought to break down one of the doors, according to fire brigade Commander Oscar Ojeda.
"Eventually a mass of people pushed the door, opened it and rushed out," Ojeda said.
"For a few cents, people lost their lives," said Judge Rafael Fernandez, who is working on the investigation.
Juan Pio Paiva on Monday told local TV that he did not order the doors be locked.
"I don't believe I'm the least bit to blame," he said, adding that "until now I am convinced the doors were not locked."
The shopping center consists of a supermarket as well as several restaurants.
It burned to the ground in about 30 minutes, apparently after the explosion of a propane gas tank.
Brazilian, Chilean, Colombian, Spanish and US experts joined Paraguayan investigators at the scene on Tuesday.
Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay sent planeloads of medical supplies and personnel.
Other countries, including Bolivia, Cuba, France, Germany, Mexico and the US, have offered help.
Paraguay on Sunday announced that there would be three days of national mourning.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages