ASUNCION, Paraguay, 2 August 2004 — At least 124 people died after a fire swept through a supermarket on the outskirts of Paraguay’s capital Asuncion, the country’s police chief said yesterday.

“They are still taking bodies out of the supermarket,” police chief Humberto Nunez said.

The fire broke out at the Ycua Bolanos supermarket while it was crowded with Sunday midday shoppers.

Metropolitan area police chief Aristides Cabral said the blaze had left bodies badly burned and he expected a high death toll. Badly burned bodies could be seen as they were taken away after the fire in a scene of confusion as firefighters scrambled through smoking debris.

Public Health Minister Julio Cesar Velazquez told reporters that children, pregnant women and the elderly were among the victims.

“I have never seen a disaster like this. It’s horrible,” Velazquez said.