A catastrophic fire has resulted in the death of 19 children, including a five-year-old boy, with several others injured.
The devastating event transpired on Sunday, May 21, at Mahdia Secondary School, in Guyana, when a dormitory was purportedly intentionally ignited by a 14-year-old student. The student had had her phone taken away due to an inappropriate relationship with an older man. The fire tragically ended the lives of 19 young students.
The adolescent girl, who allegedly threatened to set the dormitory on fire after her phone was confiscated, is the main suspect in the arson. She suffered injuries in the incident and will be transferred to a juvenile detention center once discharged from the hospital, as stated by Gerald Gouveia, National Security Adviser.
The severity of the fire and the secured doors and barred windows of the dormitory trapped many victims inside, impeding their exit. Gouveia mentioned that the dormitory was locked by its supervisor to prevent the girls from socializing at night. The supervisor, who managed to flee the fire, was unable to unlock the doors amidst the chaos.
Nearby residents, awakened by the distressed cries of the girls attempting to flee the burning building, were eyewitnesses to the dreadful incident.
Most of the victims were primarily Indigenous girls from remote communities near Mahdia, a mining town near the Brazil border. The casualties also included the dormitory supervisor’s son. The extreme fire resulted in severe burns for 13 victims, making their identification challenging. Guyana is accepting forensic assistance from the United States and other countries for DNA identification.
As the probe progresses, authorities intend to file charges against the teenage suspect and the older man involved in the inappropriate relationship, potentially for statutory rape, as indicated by Gouveia. The Guyana Police Force will seek direction from the Director of Public Prosecutions throughout the investigation.
