8 months ago
SACRAMENTO, CA - A third child injured in a deadly fire that tore through a Mexico day care facility Friday arrived in Sacramento for treatment Sunday. The plane carrying the 3-year-old boy arrived at Sacramento International Airport just after 6 p.m. Sunday. From there, emergency personnel transported the child to Shriners Hospital for Children, the third victim of the Hermosillo, Mexico blaze to be taken to the Sacramento hospital recognized as one of California's premier pediatic burn facilities. The boy had burns over 20 percent of his body, according to Dr. Olaff Narchi, who cared for the child on the air ambulance flight from Mexico to Sacramento. Narchi said despite the injuries, he was optimistic about the boy's chances for survival. Meanwhile, the first victim of the blaze to arrive in Sacramento, a 3-year-old girl, had already undergone two surgeries and her chances for survival remained unknown Sunday, according to the child's family. The girl's mother, who worked at the day care where 40 children died Friday, was also hospitalized in Mexico for burns suffered in the deadly blaze. The girl's great-uncle Felix Barreras of Fairfield said he had been unable to see 3-year-old Alejandra Guadalupe Esquer Ochoa or speak to her father Heraclio Esquer since the pair arrived at Shriners' Hospital for Children Saturday. Following her early morning arrival, Barreras said doctors operated on the child twice Saturday for injuries to her legs, arms and throat. Dr. Tina Palmieri, assistant chief of burns for the hospital, said Alejandra suffered burns to 80 percent of her body and remained listed in critical condition. Barreras said his niece, the girl's mother Olga Lidia Ochoa Barreras, was in a Obregon, Mexico hospital for treatment of burns to her back and face as well as smoke inhalation. "This is awful," Barreras said. "The mother woke up in the hospital asking for her daughter." Barreras said he did not know his niece's condition or the severity of her injuries. A second child from the day care, a 3-year-old boy, arrived at Shriners late Saturday night and was scheduled to undergo several hours of surgery Sunday. Dr. David Greenhalgh said doctors hope to treat 35 to 40 percent of the boy's body during the operation. He was burned over about half his body.
Greenhalgh said Shriners was anticipating more cases from the Mexico blaze being transferred to Sacramento, but it was not immediately known when how many children may arrive. Shriners could probably take two to four more children, Greenhalgh said.
Sacramento's Shriners Hospital is a national-recognized regional pediatric burn center that serves the western United States, Canada and Mexico.
Dozens of people were injured in Friday's devastating fire in Hermosillo, capital city of the northwestern Mexico state of Sonora. About 142 children, ranging in age from six months to 5 years, and six staffers were in the day care when the blaze erupted at an adjoining tire and car warehouse.
Mexican health officials say two children died in hospitals Sunday, two days after the blaze, raising the death toll to 40.
Funeral processions filled the streets of the northwestern city Sunday as Mexico's president promised a thorough investigation into the blaze's cause.
A fire official and witness said crews rushed children from the burning center through its only exit and through large holes a civilian knocked into the walls with his pickup before rescue crews arrived.
Thirty-three remain hospitalized, including 13 who were in critical condition. One of them is brain dead.
News10/KXTV and The Associated Press
