At Least 80 Dead in Lima Blaze

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 30, 2001

At Least 80 Dead in Lima Blaze

At least 80 people died and more than 200 were injured on Saturday in a fire sparked by an explosion in a fireworks store in a historic district in Lima, police said.

At least 80 people died and more than 200 were injured on Saturday in a fire sparked by an explosion in a fireworks store in a historic district in Lima, police said.

"Approximately 80 people have died, and there are more than 200 injured in different hospitals across Lima," one police official told Reuters.

The fire was largely contained by midnight, four and a half hours after it started.

Charred bodies were piled up on debris-strewn streets in the popular shopping area as firefighters worked to extinguish the flames. Peru's chief firefighter confirmed that 60 people had died in the blaze.

President Alejandro Toledo declared two days of national mourning as he rushed to Lima from a visit to northern Peru to oversee recovery efforts.

Firefighters said the fire was sparked in a fireworks store -- as shoppers stocked up ahead of New Year's festivities -- and had destroyed at least three buildings packed with stores.

Radio reports said numerous people, trapped on rooftops by the blaze, were calling in vain for help.

Firefighters said the temperature inside the buildings could have reached at least 1,100 degrees F.

The historic center of Lima, the seaside capital of about 8 million people, has been designated a world heritage area by the United Nations.

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