20 children dead, several injured as fire raged through a dormitory in Mahdia, Guyana

[malaise]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-65670272
At least 20 children have died in a fire in the central Guyanese mining town of Mahdia, officials say.
The fire broke out just after midnight on Monday, engulfing a secondary school dormitory and trapping students.
Emergency services are struggling to contain the fire because of bad weather conditions, the government says.
Several more people have been injured and some are being prepared for evacuation to the capital, Georgetown, where a special centre has been set up.

About Mahdia
https://www.thingsguyana.com/mahdia-the-history-you-didnt-know/

Potaro-Siparuni region eight (8) has many communities and one such is the town of Mahdia. Mahdia is located near the center of the country at an altitude of 415 metres (1,362 ft). The town is mostly known for its gold and diamond operations which is the main economic activity. It is therefore affected by economic booms and busts. The town of Mahdia attracts both local and foreign immigrants who benefits from obtaining wealth through mining. Mahdia was officially declared a town by Order No.27 of 2018 published in Official Gazette dated August 9th 2018.

[malaise]

1. I fear that most of these girls are indigenous Guyanese

One little boy died. Look at this beautiful child.
https://newsroom.gy/2023/05/22/mahdia-tragedy-boy-5-dies-in-inferno-as-parents-struggled-to-save-children/

The worst part of this is that there are no decent hospitals in the interior of Guyana.

[LoisB]

2. This is heartbreaking.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Horrendous pain for all the survivors who weren't personally engulfed by this horror.

The trauma is just beginning for everyone in the area. The place seems nearly inaccessible and no doubt the building wasn't as modernized and safe as they would have wanted it to be.

So many young lives, so nearly impossible to get help quickly.

So many dangerous enterprises around poor communities which can't protect themselves.

Thank you for adding information to flesh out the initial information.

So sorry to hear of this savage tragedy happening to these helpless people. All their lives are going to be far different after this...

[malaise]

4. All came from the same area - sisters, one set of twins, cousins- horrific

There must be a way to secure kids without locking them in buildings and then not being able to open grilled doors because the responsible person is asleep.
This is horrific

[malaise]

5. Update - the fire was started by a student who was upset that her phone was taken away

The devastating fire which ripped through the female dormitory at the Mahdia Secondary School was maliciously set by a student of the school, well-placed sources have told the News Room.

The student, the News Room was reliably told, was upset after her phone was taken away over objections by the school that she was engaging in matters dangerous to her well-being with an adult. She had pledged to give “trouble” over the actions taken against her.

The student was seen by other students spraying a substance in the air and then igniting a fire. The fire was set to some mattresses just outside the bathroom area of the dormitory.

https://newsroom.gy/2023/05/22/breaking-mahdia-fire-was-maliciously-set-by-student/

[Judi Lynn]

6. Oh, my god. I didn't see you posted this news until just now, on Tuesday - - -

I just came to this thread to post the same news, and saw you had already found out yesterday.

This is horrendous!

~ ~ ~

Guyana dorm fire that killed 19 was deliberately set by student, official says
AP
By Bert Wilkinson
23 May, 2023 03:50 PM
3 mins to read

Investigators in Guyana believe a fire that killed 19 mostly girls trapped in a school dormitory was deliberately set by a student who was upset that her mobile phone was confiscated, a top official said.

The suspect in the fire late Sunday (local time), who is among several injured people, had been disciplined by the dorm administrator for having an affair with an older man, National Security Adviser Gerald Gouveia said. The student allegedly threatened to torch the dorm and later set a fire in a bathroom area, Gouveia said.

The fire raced through the wood, concrete and iron-grilled building after it had been locked for the night by the dorm administrator — or house mother — to prevent the girls from sneaking out, Gouveia said.

“She did this out of love for them. She felt she was forced to do so because many of them leave the building at night to socialise,” Gouveia told The Associated Press. “This is a very sad situation, but the state is going to work with the students and the families to provide all the support they need.”

More:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/guyana-dorm-fire-that-killed-19-was-deliberately-set-by-student-official-says/ZX3FQIGXDRAWXKOM6C2DBSZ7YY/

~ ~ ~

Sure hope the older man is proud of himself for putting the young person in such a situation she couldn't handle it, having no experience in "the world."

The house mother will always question the way she dealt with the situation originally.

Sorry, malaise, that I didn't even know you'd shared this story already, yesterday.

So much suffering, so much grief today. Sad, sad lesson for the world.

[malaise]

7. Yep

We heard yesterday- crazy indeed.
Still if they weren’t padlocked behind grill doors, they would all be alive today.

Add
I don’t know how we keep teenagers from the predators but locking them up behind grill doors is not the answer.
There is horrific grief in the town - one set of twins, two other sisters and four cousins.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Girls burnt in deadly Guyana school fire still critical

May 25, 2023 6:59 pm

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (AFP) – Two girls badly burnt in a school dormitory fire that killed 19 children in Guyana were too weak to be evacuated to another country for specialised treatment, an official said Wednesday.

They were injured when an inferno Sunday gutted a building housing girls aged 11-12 and 16-17 in Mahdia, central Guyana.

"If there is a need for overseas treatment, they will be permitted (to leave), but the doctors have not yet said so... They are still too critical," health ministry official Leslie Ramsammy told AFP.

Both were being treated for respiratory complications in intensive care.

Cuba and Barbados have offered to take in some of the wounded for medical care.

More:
https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latest-news/girls-burnt-in-deadly-guyana-school-fire-still-critical/

[malaise]

9. Too sad

Health care in Guyana is pathetic

[malaise]

11. One of them died

Here’s the best article on the fire
https://villagevoicenews.com/2023/05/30/guyanas-shame-the-tragedy-of-a-broken-system-blaming-a-vulnerable-child-for-mahdia-dorm-inferno/

The nation remains in shock as a 15-year-old child stands accused of setting fire to the girls’ dormitory at Mahdia Secondary School, resulting in the devastating loss of 18 girls and a 5-year-old boy. The young suspect, whose identity is protected under the Juvenile Justice Act, appeared before Senior Magistrate Sunil Scarce at Mahdia Magistrate’s Court yesterday via Zoom. The case has sparked a wave of emotions and raised serious concerns about the treatment of indigenous children and the accountability of the government.

In a country where easy answers and simplistic solutions are preferred, the government seems eager to present the 15-year-old as the sole perpetrator of this horrific incident. However, the concerned citizens of Guyana are urging for a more thoughtful approach, questioning the government’s half-truths and propaganda. The focus must shift from a convenient scapegoat to the larger issues at hand.

It is evident that this tragedy is being used as a distraction from the government’s failure to address the systemic issues plaguing the educational welfare of indigenous communities. The focus must be on ensuring justice for the victims and uncovering the truth behind the government’s negligence.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Surely hope a lot of people will see this article. It needs to make its way through the lies.

What a vile shame this official treatment of indigenous people has not changed in hundreds of years, anywhere and everywhere invading Europeans have seized control of local people. So sad that the spirit of control freaks hasn't evolved one bit regarding powerless people.

It doesn't take a genius to have read enough history of these schools throughout the world to know that there is even a high suicide rate by young people who can't live with so much abuse, and disrespect.

Abuse of children makes them unbearably vulnerable to any exploitative adult who's low enough to take advantage of them.

The article really makes one's "heart" ache, because it's true. How very, very sad.

Thanks for sharing the information, malaise.

[malaise]

13. Really heart-breaking

She was just a victim herself

[Judi Lynn]

10. Another arson attack targets Guyana girls' dorm

The weekend school dormitory blaze that killed 19 minors in central Guyana was started by a disgruntled pupil angry at having her mobile phone confiscated. — AFP pic

Friday, 02 Jun 2023 9:53 AM MYT

CARACAS, June 1 — An arson attack partially destroyed a girls’ dormitory in a Guayanan village near the Brazilian border yesterday, less than a fortnight after a fire at another girls’ boarding school killed 19 children, police said.

There were no reported casualties in the blaze in Karasabai, in the southwest of the country. The 19 residents, aged 11 to 16, were able to escape the fire caused by four young men who wanted revenge for having been chased away from the building, according to police who were called by the concierge at 2:30am (0630 GMT) local time.

“Four teenage boys admitted to investigators that they on Thursday burnt down a Roman Catholic girls’ hostel ... after they were chased away,” police said.

Last month the South American nation was left in shock when 19 children died in a fire in another dormitory for girls which police said had been deliberately started by a girl who was angry at having her mobile phone confiscated. Pupils were not allowed to have phones in the dormitory.

More:
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2023/06/02/another-arson-attack-targets-guyana-girls-dorm/72100

[malaise]

14. This was was a new hostel run by the Ursuline sisters

These young girls are vulnerable and preyed on in both these religious set ups and within their communities.
The good news is that this hostel only had 17 girls and no one was hurt.
Folks think the buys got the idea from the other fire. That said many of them do not trust these religious serups and who can blame them.
Bottom line is that these indigenous children need serious help.