Market owner 'locked doors'

A SHOPPING centre owner, his son and four guards were indicted for manslaughter after allegedly locking the crowded store in Paraguay to prevent theft during a blaze that left 346 people dead, court sources said yesterday.

Juan Pio Paiva, who owned the Ycua Bolanos shopping centre in Asuncion, his son Daniel and four security guards are formally accused of locking the doors "so no one would leave without paying," the sources said.

The charge sheet claims Daniel Paiva ordered security personnel to shut all exits, and helped them do so, thereby preventing hundreds of clients from fleeing and "causing the death of more than 300 people."