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News > Latin America

Fatalities in El Salvador as Fire Engulfs the Finance Ministry

  • Fire at El Salvador's Finance Ministry in San Salvador, July 07, 2017

    Fire at El Salvador's Finance Ministry in San Salvador, July 07, 2017 | Photo: Reuters

Published 7 July 2017
Opinion

The government sent helicopters to rescue people trapped in the building.

A major fire in El Salvador's Finance Ministry has left at least two people dead and 22 others injured.

The nation's President, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, visited the site and told local television that one woman, a union worker, died in the blaze, while another person had died in hospital.

Three more people are thought to be in a critical condition.

Earlier, emergency services spokesman Carlos Fuentes said a man had died from burns and smoke inhalation on the fifth floor of the nine-story building in the capital, San Salvador.

It was unclear if this was the same person mentioned by the president.

Video footage showed another man jumping from the top of the Ministry and landing heavily on a lower roof near the ground.

Emergency crews said he was in grave condition in hospital.

Fuentes said several people had jumped from the fifth and sixth floors of the burning building, suffering injuries.

Around 50 people were rescued and 25 people were taken to hospital for treatment for burns and smoke inhalation, Fuentes said.

The government sent helicopters to those trapped in the ministry as video showed thick plumes of smoke billowing from the building.

Jose Alfaro, another spokesman for local emergency services, said the building has been completely evacuated.

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