Guatemala: 15 die in marketplace fire

At least 15 people died in a fire at Guatemala City's La Terminal market, which comprises a vast, complex maze of stalls. I've been there before, and it's easy to imagine the horror of being trapped in that place with a fast-moving blaze.

The fire is said to have been caused when someone dropping a lit cigarette near one of the illegal fireworks stands. Sergio Morales, human rights ombudsman of Guatemala, said Thursday (my clumsy Spanish translation) -- "The people who sell those fireworks know that they are dangerous, but they sell them anyway, because it's a profitable business."

Link to story in Prensa Libre about the blaze (Spanish), and here's an English-language item: Link.

The thing about fireworks here is -- they just seem to go off constantly. Antigua's been my home base here between trips from one part of the country to another, and sometimes it sounds like the city is being bombed. Whenever you have a birthday party, you have loud fireworks, same for other festivities. Seems there's always an excuse to light them off.

Image: A worker carries plastic bags out of the burned-out market. Émerson Díaz, for Prensa Libre. Where: Lat: 14 38 N Lon: 90 31 W.