MEXICO City, Mexico, (AFP) – Mexico’s Social Security Institute yesterday accepted partial responsibility after 44 children died in a fire in a daycare centre, and announced a one million dollar fund for the victims’ families.

“The Social Security Institute is responsible for the children’s security,” said Director Daniel Karam Toumeh, as the nation sought justice and explanations after last Friday’s blaze.

“After this tragedy which has moved us so much … we have to maximise security,” Karam told a news conference, after ordering a review of daycare centres across the country under the institute’s management, which look after some 221,000 children.

Karam said that the institute had authorised 14.5 million pesos to support the families of the children who died or were hurt in the blaze in the northern city of Hermosillo last Friday.

Karam said it was a minimum response that the Mexican state could make.

Families who lost a child in the blaze would receive some 11,300 dollars, while those whose injuries compromised their future development would receive 20,000 dollars and medical assistance for life, Karam added.

The cause of the fire at the ABC daycare centre was under federal investigation.

Two Mexican officials married to the centre owners resigned Tuesday, and an initial inquiry noted that smoke detectors did not function properly on the day of the fire, and one poorly accessible emergency exit had remained closed.

On Monday a state prosecutor said a short circuit or overheating of a cooling system in an adjacent warehouse set off the blaze, which also left 26 children and two adults hospitalised.