Guyana: The 19 children were burned in a fire set by a teenage girl because they took her mobile phone

The cause of a fire in a dormitory in Guyana that killed 19 children is terrifying.

A government source told AFP on Tuesday that the fire that claimed the lives of 19 children – 18 female students and a young boy – was set on Sunday by a teenage girl angry that her mobile phone had been stolen from her. , speaking on condition of anonymity (Pictured in the Reuters photo above, what remains of the dormitory after the fire).

Confiscation of the mobile phone

The student is a suspect to challenge Yesterday, police said in a press release issued about the school fire in Mahdia, a closed mining and mining town in the small English-speaking South American country.

At least 19 students have been killed after a fire ripped through a government boarding school in Guyana that serves mostly Indigenous students.

The authorities are investigating whether it was started intentionally ⤵️

🔗: https://t.co/spwzvOOY2z pic.twitter.com/2MDlPoad1b

– Al Jazeera English (AJEnglish) May 23, 2023

The government source stated that the young woman had already confirmed her responsibility.

The official said that the housing officials “confiscated her cell phone and threatened the girl the same night that she would set the building on fire and that the whole world would hear her.”

It is treated under guard

And the source continued, quoting his colleagues, who gave their statements a copy of the events, that the minor, who is being treated in a hospital under police guard, went to the bathroom, sprayed the shower curtain with pesticides and set it on fire with pesticides.

In the lease, 20 children lost their lives in a late-night fire in school accommodation in the Guyana gold-mining town of Mahdia. pic.twitter.com/Aen0ADF6eP

– Gordon Moseley 🇬🇾 (@gomoseley) May 22, 2023

The students said they were asleep when the screams woke them up. They saw fire and smoke in the bathroom area, which quickly spread throughout the building,” a police text message read.

Despite the desperate efforts of the girl’s classmates to put out the flames, the fire spread very quickly, destroying the building, which was partly made of wood – in particular, it had a wooden roof.

At least 20 people have been killed after a fire ripped through a dormitory at a girls’ secondary school in Mahdia, Guyana on Sunday, May 21. pic.twitter.com/jm4XVKMPqp

– 48 hours (@48 hours) May 22, 2023

The government source explained that the female students were “not allowed to bring mobile phones with them”, but that school officials “found that the girl had a phone” and took “photos”.

“I panicked”

The tragedy was made worse because the person in charge of the dormitory “panicked” and could not find the key to the door of the building, whose windows were barred. The same source added that the door was locked every night at nine in the evening.

The young son of the dormitory manager was among the 19 victims.

casing @employee #23May

Guyana is a failed state that is not controlled by its own population or the Essequibo Venezuelans, who have been mostly abandoned by the government. #MiMapa pic.twitter.com/P5KiTyzCy1

– My map of Venezuela includes Essequibo (AntroCanal) May 23, 2023

The men break down the door to rescue the survivors, including the girl who started the fire.

Firefighting and police forces arrived at the scene about 25 minutes after the fire broke out, according to the same source.

Before Monday, Guinea’s chief of police, Clifton Hicken, told the press that the first clues in the investigation indicated that the fire was caused by “the work of malice”.

casing @employee #23May

Guyana is a failed state that is not controlled by its own population or the Essequibo Venezuelans, who have been mostly abandoned by the government. #MiMapa pic.twitter.com/P5KiTyzCy1

– My map of Venezuela includes Essequibo (AntroCanal) May 23, 2023

Thirteen girls and a boy died instantly, and five more girls succumbed to their injuries in a hospital in the Mahdia region. The authorities declared three days of national mourning.

Source: Res