Investigators and government employees inspect the school dormitory where a fire killed at least 19 people in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. At least 19 people, most of them youths, were killed and several injured Sunday in a school dormitory fire in Guyana, the government said in a statement, with the nation's president calling it a "major disaster". (Photo by Keno GEORGE / AFP) (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Tues. May 23, 2023: Ashes of burnt out text book, twisted metal and a charred and broken concrete structure are all that physically remain of the dormitory fire in Guyana’s interior area of Madhia that claimed 19 young lives Sunday night.
Mostly indigenous Guyanese whose children were staying at the dorm to attend school in Madhia, searched for answers as their tears fell openly during a meeting with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali. Here are some of the scenes from the aftermath of the disaster.
Ashes and twisted metal at the former dormitory where 19 children were killed on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)Investigators and government employees inspect the school dormitory after the fire. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)Burnt books and notebooks are seen at the school dormitory that caught fire and left at least 19 people dead in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)All the remains from the scene of the dormitory fire at left 19 students dead in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)View of the school dormitory that caught fire and left 19 students dead in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)Relatives and friends of the victims of a fire cry during a meeting with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, in Mahdia, Guyana, on May 22, 2023. The building was gutted by the inferno. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)Victims of the fire at a school dormitory remain in the hospital in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)Children rescued during a Mahdia secondary school dormitory fire are transferred by medical personnel, firefighters and policemen to hospitals in Gorgetown, Guyana on May 22, 2023.(Photo by ROYSTON DRAKES/AFP via Getty Images)
A total of 59 girls were staying in the dorms, but only 56 were in the rooms when the fire started since three went home for the weekend. Thirteen of the girls and a little boy died at the dorms, while five died at the Mahdia Hospital.
Of those injured, six children were medevacked to Georgetown in the wee hours of the morning, while 17 are in the Mahdia Hospital.
Due to the severity of the deaths, DNA analysis is needed to identify the 13 female victims, who perished at the dormitory. The Government of Guyana has already sought the needed support from regional and international partners and is optimistic that by the end of the day, that support will be received to bring closure to the families.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer (ag), Dwayne Scotland revealed that the fire was lit maliciously in the south-western end of the building, which rapidly consumed the building killing 19 children residing in the dormitory.
