Importance of the ABC Nursery Fire in Mexico

When laziness kills childhood. This episode included one of the most shocking disasters that have affected Mexico so far in the 21st century. On the afternoon of June 5, 2009, a massive fire killed nearly 50 children and over a hundred were injured. seriously injured, in the ABC Nursery, appointment in the city of Hermosillo, belonging to the Mexican state of sound.

The absence of government controls and the null security measures that the establishment in which the company operated nursery school further aggravated the situation and made it practically impossible to rescue many of the children who ended up dying as a result of suffocation.

A no lesser aspect in the drama was the intrinsic vulnerability of the children, the vast majority of them babies, who of course could not escape per se from the flames and the highly toxic smoke that filled the place.

A tragic event that mourns Mexico to this day and that could have been avoided if the state had been present as appropriate.

a tragedy foretold

The nursery that housed children between five months and five years old depended on the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), a federal government agency that provides the services health and social Security to the Mexicans affiliated with it.

Since the eighties, the IMSS granted concessions to individuals and private companies the dozens of nurseries that he had under his authority and he was in charge of establishing the operating conditions.

In 2003 he modified the regulations, making the requirements for concessions of this type of establishment more flexible, and also reduced its investment for each child housed in them.

This situation increased the number of nurseries due to the easy access to the business and also increased the chaos in terms of organization and controls.

Very few met the security required by children and they were overcrowded.

Lack of controls, security measures and inadequate construction

Immediately after the misfortune, the investigation and the corresponding judicial process to convict those responsible for such negligence.

The expert reports reported that the fire originated from overheating in the refrigeration system of the adjoining property. in which an archive of the municipal department of vehicle control worked and from there it immediately spread to the nursery, aggravated by the highly flammable conditions of the material kept there, with which the establishment was covered to children.

As has happened in many other similar tragedies, the emergency exits were inadequate, there were no fire extinguishers or smoke detectors in the number required by law, and also the construction building was inappropriate and ended up being a death trap for the children.

The power of the day in the sights

Although the first reaction of the federal and municipal governments was to offer their assistance to the parents, to the victims, and to remove those responsible for the IMSS, justice made little progress in punishing them.

The concessionaires who were family related to the state governor, Eduardo Bours, and to the former first lady Margarita Zavala, wife of the por then President Felipe Calderón, were not summoned in court despite the claim of the parent organizations that were formed after the tragic episode.

Convictions and changes in day care law

In 2016, the court in charge of the case sentenced various public officials from 20 to 29 years in prison. of the IMSS, of the municipality, and of the Hermosillo fire department, for the crimes of homicide and injuries guilty.

In 2011, two years after the event, and thanks to the relentless struggle of family members and organizations, the law for the provision of childcare services to ensure the integrity and health of children who attend said spaces.

The survivors continue to require medical attention today due to the very serious consequences caused by the fire.