Dozens killed as fire sweeps crowded supermarket

Dozens of people were killed when fire swept through a supermarket on the outskirts of Paraguay’s capital Asuncion today.

The fire broke out at the Ycua Bolanos supermarket while it was crowded with Sunday midday shoppers.

Television reports said at least 80 people died and dozens were injured.

But authorities had no immediate official toll of the dead and injured.

Earlier, metropolitan area police chief Aristides Cabral said the blaze had left bodies badly burned and he expected a high death toll.

Badly burned bodies could be seen as they were taken away after the fire in a scene of confusion as firefighters scrambled through smoking debris.

Public health minister Julio Cesar Velazquez told reporters that children, pregnant women and the elderly were among the victims.

“I have never seen a disaster like this,” he said. “The firefighters were taking out, as best as they could, the bodies, the injured and people suffering from smoke inhalation. It’s horrible.”

One woman, sooty and sobbing, was carried away on the shoulders of a rescue worker while firefighters used ladders as they tried to enter the building.

Interior minister Orlando Fiorotto ordered off-duty police and firefighters to the scene and urged hospitals to prepare for the injured.

Hundreds of rescue workers, bystanders and relatives stood by outside the shopping complex in an Asuncion suburb as hazy brown smoke hung on the air.

The country’s president, Nicanor Duarte, also went to the scene.

“This is a moment of great anguish,” Mr Duarte said. “I’ve come here to provide support to the injured and the families of the deceased.”