Update June 22, 2009: As of this hour the death toll has been confirmed to be 47. 7 state officials from the Finance Department have been arrested in connection to negligence in fire and emergency standards at the ABC daycare center.

Flames engulfed a day care center in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo on Friday, killing at least 29 children and sending dozens more the hospital, an official said.

The fire apparently started at a car and tire depot Friday afternoon and spread to the ABC day care center, said Jose Larrinaga, a spokesman for Sonora state investigators.

He said the fire was controlled within two hours and that most children had died of asphyxiation.

“We’re still investigating what caused the fire and where exactly it started,” Larrinaga said.

Guadalupe Ayala, coordinator of Red Cross rescue workers, said about 100 children were inside the privately-owned day care center when it caught fire.

“Firefighters had to knock holes in the walls to get the children,” he said.

The children ranged in age from six months to five years old. The injured were taken to at least five hospitals.

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