Guyana: Student accused of setting girls' dormitory on fire

ANI
24 May 2023, 15:48 GMT+10

Georgetown [Guyana], May 24 (ANI): An angry student has reportedly been found responsible for lighting a deadly fire in Guyana's dormitory that claimed 19 lives, Al Jazeera reported.

The horrific fire allegedly started in a dormitory of a girls' boarding school in Guyana late Sunday night, according to officials it was one of the deadliest in recent years for the South American country.

Nine people remain hospitalised and many are in critical condition as of now.

Leslie Ramsammy, a consultant to Guyana's health ministry, stated that the suspect was being treated for burns at the hospital and will likely be released into juvenile prison after treatment, according to Al Jazeera.

An initial investigation showed the fire had been "maliciously set," and therefore police had been treating it suspiciously.

Indigenous girls between the ages of 12 and 18 who were from villages like Micobie, Campbelltown, and El Paso, as well as towns like Mahd, made up the majority of the victims.

Nineteen people were killed, five of whom passed away in the Mahdia District Hospital and the others at the school. The five-year-old son of the dormitory carer was the youngest victim, reported Al Jazeera.

Guyana's President, Irfaan Ali, described the blaze as "tragic and painful" and "horrific."Nearly 200 miles from Georgetown, the nation's capital, the fire broke out at the high school in the hilly interior town of Mahdia soon after 11:30 pm on Sunday, The Washington Post reported citing the local media.

Authorities said that the government had established "a full-scale medical emergency action plan," with planes stocked with personnel and equipment to help local first responders. (ANI)

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