JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: In Mexico, authorities are investigating a deadly night club fire that has shocked and angered the nation. CNN's Mexico City bureau chief Harris Whitbeck has the story.</s>HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Firefighters had not yet finished their work, the smoke still rising from the twisted remains of the disco's metallic structure, and questions were already being raised. The most urgent, those from relatives wanting to know what happened to the 60 bartenders, waiters and hostesses who worked in the Lobohombo Discotheque that burst into flames after a short-circuit in the building's electrical system. This woman asked after her 23-year-old brother Edmundo, one of the disc jockeys. This woman, her son Carlos, one of the waiters. The final toll was 20 people dead and 40 injured. Recriminations were not long in coming. Officials from the Cuauhtemoc District said they had been trying for months to close the club down, citing its failure to meet local fire-code requirements.</s>LENIA BATRAS, OFFICER, CUAUHTEMOC DISTRICT (through translator): There were no fire exits. No systems at all in this place to prevent a disaster like this one.</s>WHITBECK: But the owners of the club, the Titanium Group, would appeal and win every closing order they received, according to the chief executive of the district, because they would pay off judges, a charge the owners deny. The head of Mexico City's Civil Protection Department says tragedies like this one could be prevented if the judges stick to the law... "There are too many judges who will overrule closing orders without taking into account the risks that might entail," he said. ... and end the corruption that many say is at the root of the problem. (on camera): The authorities say there are at least 180 clubs that operate under circumstances similar to those that caused the tragedy. And they fear it is only a matter of time before another one occurs. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Mexico City.
Fire in Mexico City Night Club Kills 20