Relatives cry outside the Safe Home on March 8, 2017. Photo by Carlos Sebastián for Nómada. Used under a Creative Commons license. Dozens of girls died tragically in a fire on March 8 at a state-run home for children on the outskirts of Guatemala City. The night before, the girls were locked in their dormitories after a failed escape attempt. The next morning, mattresses were set on fire in protest against the lockdown, but the flames spread and consumed the entire wing of the building, killing at least 41 children and adolescents. According to the online news site Sin Embargo, “For years, minors have alleged that they were victims of physical, psychological, and sexual mistreatment during their stay at the shelter.” Ironically, the deadly fire occurred on International Women’s Day, as feminists around the world protested violence against women, and the Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) swept Latin America. Eyewitnesses told Sin Embargo that the foiled escape attempt on March 7 was hardly the first time anyone at the shelter tried to flee. The most recent attempt set off a chain of events leading to the tragedy. According to a blog post shared on Medium by Community Press KM169, conditions in the shelter were abhorrent, and many of the minors living there were regularly trying to break out: Al menos unas cincuenta niñas y niños intentaron huir el 7 de marzo del infierno mal llamado Hogar seguro Virgen de la Asunción. Estaban desesperadas de los golpes, del encierro, de las violaciones sexuales, abortos forzados, administración de fármacos y de las torturas permanentes, de todo tipo. Muchas de ellas estaban embarazadas. Esto no es nuevo pues había denuncias desde el 2016. Huyeron pero pronto atraparon a la mayoría y el presidente mismo Jimmy Morales ordenó que se enviaran más de 250 policías incluyendo antimotines, que se quedaron ahí toda la noche para tener todo “bajo control“. At least 50 girls and boys attempted to flee on March 7 from the inaptly named hellhole “Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home.” They were driven to desperation by the beatings, the confinement, the sexual violence, the forced abortions and medicines, and all types of torture. Many of them were pregnant. This is not new: it’s been reported since 2016. The residents fled, but most were quickly captured again. Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales sent more than 250 police officers, including riot police, to stay overnight at the shelter and keep everything “under control.” On March 8, “the girls rebelled and set fire to their mattresses so they would be allowed out of their rooms. They were not allowed out, and they were burned to death,” according to local news site Nómada. Community Press KM169 shares the following further details about the deadly day: El fuego empezó a arder en la madrugada, los monitores o encargados y los cientos de policías no hicieron nada más que amedrentar y amenazar a los jóvenes albergados en otros módulos que querían ayudar. A los cuerpos de socorro se les negó el acceso como lo denunció un oficial bomberos, y los familiares en las afueras pedían desesperadamente entrar y los antimotines impidieron el paso. Nadie pudo hacer nada The fire began in the early morning, and the monitors, those in charge, and the hundreds of police did nothing more than frighten and threaten the youths in other units who wanted to help. They denied entry to emergency response personnel, according to a firefighter official, and relatives outside who sought to enter were blocked by riot police. No one could do anything. A survivor told reporters: Pedimos auxilio y una de las agentes dijo: que sufran esas desgraciadas, que así como habíamos sido buenas para fugarnos, que fuéramos buenas para aguantar el dolor. We asked for help and one of the agents said, “Let these wretches suffer; if we'd been ready to flee, we could endure the pain.” At a press conference the day after the blaze, the authorities presented their version of events. President Morales was conspicuously absent, away “attending to urgent matters of state.” A government spokesperson claimed that the girls placed under lockdown were being punished for extortion and conceal weapons. “We exhausted all dialogue with the girls,” the spokesperson explained, suggesting that their true grievances weren't torture but bad cafeteria food. “There was no negligence.” Nonetheless, President Morales later admitted that the state had failed to “pay enough attention” to the situation at Virgin of the Assumption, and warned that a similar tragedy could strike again, if officials make the same mistake in the future. The children living at the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home are there under court order.