Two more children died from injuries sustained in a fire at a daycare center in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, bringing the total death toll to 43, the country's health provider said Monday.

There were a total of 33 children still in hospital, and 20 of whom were in grave condition, Mexican Social Security Agency Director Daniel Karam told a local radio.

The social security agency, which also has the responsibility for supervising the nursery, is paying for the injured children's medical care and for family members' expenses.

Karam said the agency's technical committee would consider a proposal to cover the burned children's health expenses for life, rather than up to age 16, in line with current laws.

More than 140 children, between two months and five years old, were in the nursery in Hermosillo, capital of Sonora state, on Friday when the fire broke out. The children were mostly napping when flames from a nearby store starting a fire that trapped them inside.

Around 70 of the children were well enough to return home.

The social security agency supervises 1,565 private nurseries in Mexico as part of a plan that began in the 1980s. The daycare center joined the plan in 2001.

In Sonora, there are 88 such centers caring for 15,000 children.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident and whether the nursery had appropriate operating conditions.

Source: Xinhua