Mexico City, Jun 24 (EFE).- The death toll from a nursing home fire outside Mexicali, capital of the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California, has risen to 17, the city's mayor confirmed Wednesday.
Four elderly victims of the blaze are currently hospitalized, one in serious condition, while three other residents of the facility "are making progress in their recovery," Jaime Rafael Diaz Ochoa told Imagen Radio.
The fire broke out Tuesday at the Hermoso Atardecer nursing home, a residence for people who had previously been homeless and in some cases had no families, in one of the deadliest incidents of its kind in Mexico.
The nursing home was run by Sociedad Cultural Impulsora de Bienestar Social A.C., a non-governmental organization that manages other similar facilities in the area.
The fire could have been the result of arson considering the spot where it began, Diaz Ochoa said, citing a report from the Public Works Secretariat.
He added that three caregivers and a security guard were inside the facility at the time and were uninjured in the blaze.
The nursing home's electric wiring was "not obsolete," and the facility also had smoke detectors, the mayor said, adding that it was also equipped with security cameras that could help with the investigation.
He also said the nursing home had been built with "light" materials because it is located in a seismically active region with extreme temperatures.
His remarks contradicted those made to EFE Tuesday by Humberto Cota, who was identified by personnel from the NGO as the manager of the establishment (Cota said he ceased managing the nursing home months ago).
Some sections of the nursing home in Ejido Queretaro, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexicali, were built with sheet metal due to lack of funds and other factors that prevented the construction of suitable installations, Cota said.
Diaz Ochoa also said in the radio interview that he was told by representatives of the nursing home that Sociedad Cultural Impulsora de Bienestar Social A.C. has been racked by internal disputes since last year.
The mayor also defended the work of local authorities and firefighters, saying the blaze in a 600-sq.-meter (6,450-sq.-foot) space was brought under control in around a half hour.