Peru on Monday prepared to ring in the New Year in mourning for victims of a blaze sparked by fireworks that killed at least 270 in a downtown shopping area, as rescue workers continued to search for bodies.
Officials said they believed the final death toll of the fire that broke out late Saturday, engulfing four blocks in the historic Mesa Redonda shopping area, could exceed 300. More than 130 were injured in the blaze.
Rescue workers worked slowly in removing the bodies from the site of the blaze because some of the remains were trapped in burned-out cars, and due to the danger of walls collapsing, officials said.
Relatives of the victims gathered in the area starting at dawn, in tears and suffering from two nights of little to no sleep, trying to catch a glimpse of the burned-out buildings from behind a police security cordon.
Others went to the city's morgue to try to identify the dead, but civil defense chief Admiral Juan Luis Podesta warned earlier that in many cases it would be a difficult task because the bodies had been so badly burned.
The bodies, covered in ice to slow their decomposition, remained stacked in black bags at the morgue, awaiting examination by a team of specialists.
Health minister Luis Solari said all victims would be identified by Wednesday at the latest.
Hospital corridors across the city were filled with anxious Peruvians, searching for information about their missing loved ones and hoping they had perhaps been injured but not killed in the deadly inferno.
Doctors said many of those hurt had suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns, but others were in a coma or had suffered severe mental trauma.
According to witnesses, the fire began late Saturday in a store selling fireworks for New Year's celebrations, after vendors tested firecrackers for some clients.
Fireworks are widely used for Christmas and New Year's celebrations in Peru and Lima officials said huge quantities of fireworks were stockpiled in downtown shops, as well as private attics and basements.
"The fire was due to the irresponsibility of the merchants, who failed to heed the warnings and recommendations of officials," said prosecutor Maria del Pilar Peralta.
The blaze quickly spread through the area packed with vendors and customers, destroying several tall buildings, numerous private homes and scores of automobiles.
Most of the victims were burned to death or died from smoke inhalation, according to officials, who said the tragedy was one of the deadliest ever to strike Peru's capital.
Solari has urged all Peruvians not to use fireworks to ring in the New Year.
President Alejandro Toledo declared two days of national mourning for the blaze victims, starting on Sunday, and sent his condolences to their families.
Toledo added that officials were working on a more stringent law that would "prohibit the import and production of all types of fireworks materials in Peru."
Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi said the draft would soon be submitted to Congress for its approval.
French President Jacques Chirac and German President Johannes Rau sent their condolences, as did King Juan Carlos of Spain.
Pope John Paul II sent a brief message of condolences to relatives of the victims, which was read by Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani at the entrance of one of the hospitals where blaze victims are being treated.
Cipriani was to lead a funeral mass late Monday in remembrance of the victims.
Near the disaster site, 31-year-old Jesus Machaca Gutierrez stood near the entrance to the small Jesus Our Savior chapel, which was miraculously spared in the fire. He lost nine members of his family in the blaze, including his wife.
"I am now alone in the world, they are all gone -- God where are you?" he murmured.
(China Daily January 1, 2002)
