International News

SAO PAULO, Oct 8, 2017 (APP/AFP) -:A girl who was burned in an arson attack at a nursery school in Brazil succumbed to her wounds on Saturday,
bringing the overall death toll to nine people.
The four-year-old girl had been transferred to a hospital in Belo Horizonte
, the state capital of Minas Gerais, some 370 miles (600 kilometers) north of
the small town of Janauba where the attack occurred, according to Folha de Sao
Paulo, a local newspaper.
A security guard at the nursery sprayed his young victims with alcohol
before setting fire to the building. He himself died from burns a few hours
later.
According to local authorities, he had suffered from mental health issues
since 2014.
In total, eight four-year-old children were killed, along with a teacher
aged 43. Another 40 people were treated at three hospitals in the region.
Dozens gathered for the first funerals of victims at a cemetery in Janauba
on Friday afternoon, according to an AFP photographer.
Small white coffins were opened for a few minutes as devastated family
members wept.
“What has happened is inexplicable. I have no words. When I heard about the
fire on the radio, I immediately thought of my grandchildren. I was sure
something had happened to them,” said Antonio Pereira da Silva, who buried his
granddaughter.
The mayor of Janauba declared seven days of mourning, while Brazil’s
President Michel Temer expressed his solidarity with the victims of the
“tragedy.”