A 3-year-old girl who suffered major burns in a fire that killed 35 children at a day-care center in Mexico arrived Saturday afternoon for treatment at Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California.
Meanwhile, the hospital expected Saturday evening to receive another child burned in the fire Friday at a day-care center in the Mexican city of Hermosillo, Shriners spokeswoman Catherine Curran said.
The first patient, who was not identified, was in critical condition at Shriners with burns over 80 percent of her body, said Dr. Tina Palmiera, assistant chief of burns.
The girl was expected to require "a vast array of very complex services" and be hospitalized for about three months, Palmieri said. Burns of more than 80 percent generally "require multiple sessions of skin grafting" and have a survival rate of "a little more than half" for children," the doctor said.
Shriners hospitals provide free care for burn, orthopedic and spinal-cord injuries in children. The Sacramento hospital is a regional pediatric burn center designed to serve the western United States, Canada and Mexico.
The 80-bed hospital on Stockton Boulevard will provide free treatment, support services and housing for the child and accompanying family members, officials said.
It was unknown Saturday precisely how many other victims of the fast-moving blaze at a Mexican day-care center might be arriving at the Shriners hospital in Sacramento or other U.S. cities, Mexican Consul-General Carlos González Gutiérrez said Saturday.
At least 35 children were killed and 41 were injured Friday in the fire at the ABC day-care center in Hermosillo, a city in the Mexican state of Sonora, which borders Arizona, according to the Associated Press. Six adults, including day-care workers and others who tried to help, were hospitalized in Mexico.
Medical workers in Mexico were assessing victims Saturday in consultation with Shriners officials in Sacramento, which serves as the triage point for burn victims transported to its hospitals in the United States, Palmieri said.
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