Five people including two police officers and three government officials have been charged over the death of 41 teenage girls, who died in a fire at a government-run shelter in Guatemala in March.

Prosecutors have said the blaze at the Virgen de la Asuncion shelter in San Jose Pinula broke out when residents set their mattresses alight after an overnight riot following complaints of overcrowding and abuse.

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According to reports, the capacity of the shelter was 400 but many more girls were staying there.

The senior members of social and child protection agencies – Brenda Pacay and Harold Augusto Flores – are facing manslaughter charges, while another official Gloria Patricia Castro Gutiérrez has been charged with negligence.

The other two police officers, Luis Armando Perez and Lucinda Marroquin, are accused of abuse, the BBC reported.

The charges against all the five were brought after their arrest in earlier June.

In April, former director of the shelter, the former minister of social welfare and his deputy were also charged. President Jimmy Morales had sacked them over the incident.

According to reports, the 7 March tragedy happened after one of the girls set fire to a mattress in one of the bedrooms of the facility after a riot.

Guatemala's human rights prosecutor Jorge de Leon had earlier said in a statement that young children had tried to escape the centre because they were being abused by older residents.

Morales had also blamed the government's "insensitive" and "rigid" system for the way it treats troubled young people and vowed to reform protection services. He also called for the closure of the shelter.

However, many Guatemalans are demanding his resignation after the fire.