Four children and a teacher have died in an arson attack at a nursery in Brazil today which was reportedly started by a security guard and which left around 25 injured.
Breaking News: Toddlers burned alive in nursery arson attack: Security guard kills four children and a teacher by setting Brazilian school on fire
Four toddlers, aged four years old, and a teacher died in the tragedy at the Innocent Children’s People Municipal Education Day Centre in Janaúba, in Minas Gerais, south east Brazil.
Lieutenant Colonel John Aparecido Nascimento, commander of Military Police said: ‘We believe a security guard at the nursery set himself on fire and set fire to children in the kindergarten.’
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Four toddlers have been burned to death and 40 more people are injured after a security guard carried out a horrific arson attack at a school in Brazil
The security guard has been named as 50-year-old Damiao Soares dos Santos
Pictured, the burned out room in the nursery where the tragedy happened
Security guard kills five children in nursery arson attack
Brazil police revised the death toll after earlier reports that the numbers were higher.
The perpertrator was named by police as fifty-year-old Damien Soares dos Santos, who had been working as a night watchman at the day care centre for eight years.
The horrific incident occurred on Thursday morning when about 50 students were in the nursery located in Rio Novo a neighbourhood in Janaúba.
Minas Gerais police spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm four children and a teacher have died, and 25 people are injured, nine are in a critical condition.’
The Legal medical Institute (IML) in Janauba released the names of the children who died in the attack as Ana Clara Ferreira Silva, Luiz Davi Carlos Rodrigues, Juan Pablo Cruz dos Santos and Juan Miguel Soares Silva. All were four years old.
Mayor of Janauba, Carlos Isaildon Mendes, confirmed that the teacher, named as Helley Abreu Batista, died from her injuries after being taken to hospital.
Fifteen victims with life threatening injuries have been sent to the capital Belo Horizonte. Pictured, one of the victims in hospital after the incident
The guard set fire to several children and himself at the Innocent Children’s People Municipal Education Centre in Janaúba, in Minas Gerias, south east Brazil, police say. This was the scene as victims were being rushed to hospital
Janauba Regional Hospital also reported that about 40 people had been treated by the unit – 25 of them remain hospitalised suffering from severe burns and 15, who were in shock, have been released.
Among the hospitalised patients, 14 are children aged four to five.
Nursery staff, among the wounded, are reported to have suffered more than 20 per cent of burns to their body.
According to Mr Mendes there was no indication that Santos was about to carry out the atrocity. He had no prior record of problems at work.
The Mayor told Minas Gerais media, Santos was on holiday and had gone to the nursery to hand in a medical certificate.
Pictured, the nursery in Brazil where the tragedy took place
Pictured, teams of emergency rescuers worked to take the wounded to hospital by air
It is reported that he may have been suffering from depression.
Speaking to local media Mr Mendes said: ‘This is a very complicated situation. This was a decent employee who was on holiday from work.
‘I had just returned from visiting the nursery. I was told (Damiao) knocked at the gate saying he wanted to deliver a medical certificate because he claimed he was not feeling well.
‘He has been an employee since 2008 and has never had a bad record so we could never have anticipated something of this nature happening.’
According to a spokesman from Janaúba city authority, Damiao went to the nursery carrying a pink backpack.
The spokesman said: ‘Staff at the nursery found it strange that he chose to ring the bell and that he was at the nursery outside of working hours.
Police helicopters (pictured) were called to join in the tragic rescue
‘But he said he was there to deliver a medical certificate.
‘We believe he was carrying a bag of flammable liquid, possibly alcohol or gasoline in his backpack, which he used to set fire to the victims and himself.
‘Staff at the nursery said he poured the liquid over the children and set fire (to himself and to them). We were also told he embraced some of the children which caused their bodies to burn.’
According to the spokesman, the room where the students were trapped has bars on the window and a PVC ceiling which is flammable.
The security guard allegedly responsible for the attack is believed to have died in hospital after the attack this morning
An emergency command centre has been set up at the scene of the tragedy to control the critical rescue response. Minas Gerais Civil Police said: ‘In response to the tragedy that occurred this morning in Janaúba, north of the state, the Civil Police of Minas Gerais (PCMG) announces that it has been carried out on – site investigations.
‘The autopsy on the bodies of the four deceased children is being conducted at this time.
‘PCMG investigation teams are in the house of the suspect and are questioning his family for information that might assist with our inquiries and to help to elucidate the causes that motivated the crime.’
Brazilian President Michel Temer voiced his horror at the atrocity. He told Correio Braziliense: ‘I want to express my solidarity and regret about this event, and hope that these things will not happen again in Brazil, because the world is revolted by the incident.’
Janaúba city council has announced for seven days of mourning for those who has lost their lives.
Janaúba is in the north of the state of Minas Gerais and has about 70,000 inhabitants.
Harrowing footage from outside the nursery shows desperate parents in tears as emergency crews work at the scene.
Police rescue helicopters were dispatched to support the emergency services.
Teams of investigators are already in the suspect’s house to gather information and to try to determined the reason for the crime.
Janaúba city council has announced for seven days of mourning for those who has lost their lives.
Fifteen victims with life threatening injuries have been sent to the capital Belo Horizonte where hospital facilities are more able to cope than than those in the small city where the tragedy occurred
Source: Daily.co.uk
Prosecutors allege a Milwaukee woman killed her 4-year-old son by setting him on fire in a bathtub in their apartment.
Tragic News: ‘Please mommy, stop!’: 4-year-old burned to death in bathtub, police say
Prosecutors allege a Milwaukee woman killed her 4-year-old son by setting him on fire in a bathtub in their apartment.
Amelia DiStasio faces a charge of first-degree intentional homicide. She remains jailed with bail set at $400,000.
Prosecutors allege a Milwaukee woman killed her 4-year-old son by setting him on fire in a bathtub in their apartment.
According to the complaint, authorities were called about smoke at DiStasio’s south side apartment Thursday morning and found her son Antonio’s burned and lifeless body in the bathtub. His hands had been bound behind his back with several belts, and a plastic garbage bag was over his head. An open bottle of cooking oil was in the bathroom.
The suspect’s older brother and sister are grieving the loss of their nephew while trying to fathom what their sister is accused of.
“I love my sister regardless, and I know she was sick. I want to tell her I’m angry. I’m very upset with her,” Eva Allen, the suspect’s sister, told WTMJ.
“I never think she could do some stuff like that,” said Anthony Bardwell, the suspect’s brother.
The night before the fire, the criminal complaint said a neighbor heard the child say, ‘Please mommy, stop! I won’t do it again!’ She also heard DiStasio yell, “Shut up!”
At the time of the fire, a witness told police she saw the suspect climb out the window and run away. Police later found her walking down the street. It’s unclear if she has an attorney.
The complaint also said investigators found searches on DiStasio’s phone for ways to kill cannibals.
CNN and the Associated Press contributed to this report.