Guyana: At least 19 children killed in school dormitory fire
What's the story
At least 19 children reportedly died in a devastating school dormitory fire accident in the central Guyanese mining town of Mahdia on Monday. Expressing grief over the tragic incident, the country's President Irfaan Ali has declared a three-day national mourning. As per the Guyanese Department of Public Information (DPI), the fire at Mahdia Secondary School's female dormitory killed 18 girls and a boy.
Details
56 children were inside dorm when fire broke out: Official
According to the police and firefighting officials, the fire in the secondary school dormitory was "maliciously set." A total of 56 children were staying in the dorm when the fire initially broke out, a police spokesperson stated during a press conference, according to the news outlet CNN. Built out of a concrete and wooden structure, the dorm had five doors and grill windows.
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Here's how police, firefighters responded to incident
As per reports, the officials were alerted about the fire at 10:15pm (local time) on Sunday night. "The point of origin was identified as the southwestern end of the building. After we completed our initial investigation, the scene was handed over to the Mahdia police force," a spokesperson for the firefighter department said.
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DPI provides update on victims
While the DPI didn't confirm the total number of injured from the fire, it did reveal that out "of those injured, six children were medevacked to Georgetown in the wee hours of the morning, while 17 are in the Mahdia Hospital." Furthermore, the DPI confirmed that 13 girls and a boy died at the dorms, and five other kids passed away in the hospital.
Twitter Post
Visuals of horrible fire in Guyana
On May 22, a fire broke out in a school dormitory in Mahdia, Guyana, killing 20 people. This just confirms my School Boy's Theory of History: It's just one damn thing after another:https://t.co/VrHfdRVqgk
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) May 23, 2023
Further information
Guyana PM, education minister visited incident site: Report
Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Minister of Education Priya Manickchand also paid a visit to the site on Monday amid heavy downpours across the country. "It is with heavy heart and pain that the Cabinet is being briefed and kept updated on...(the) horrific fire," the government stated, as per the news agency Reuters.