Death toll of Mexican daycare center blaze rises to 41

MEXICO CITY, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a daycare center blaze in Mexico's northern Sonora state has risen to 41, officials said on Sunday.

Relatives of the children who died during a fire at a daycare center cried at their burial at a cemetery in Hermosillo, in the Mexican state of Sonora June 6, 2009. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

There were some 142 children and six staff members in the privately-run center when the fire occurred on Friday.

The death toll has gone up to 38 as of Saturday. Most of the victims reportedly died from smoke inhalation and the injured adults included staff members at the daycare center and people who tried to help.

A baby was among the three new deaths. His parents had ordered artificial respiration to be stopped after the child was declared brain dead.

Some 38 people have been hospitalized in Sonora, among whom 22 are in delicate condition, local public health officials said.

A fire at a nearby warehouse leased by the state government spread to the center and caused the tragedy, and firefighters spent two hours putting the blaze under control.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who visited hospitalized children on Saturday night, ordered the nation's attorney general to investigate what he called "the tragedy that has the nation grieving."