Hospital officials say the death toll has risen to 38 girls in a fire that began when mattresses were set ablaze during a protest by residents at a youth shelter.
Authorities at the Roosevelt Hospital where many of the girls were taken for treatment of their burns said today that another girl had died. Nineteen of the adolescents perished at the scene of the Wednesday inferno and another 19 died later in local hospitals.
Various groups have said they plan to gather today to protest the deaths and demand the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.
The president has blamed the government's "rigid" and "insensitive" system for dealing with troubled youths and has promised to reform protective services for some 1,500 minors currently living in youth shelters around the country.
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