A girl allegedly set fire to a girls’ dorm at a school in Guyana, killing 18 of her classmates and a 5-year-old boy.
Investigators and government employees inspect the school dormitory where a fire killed at least 19 people in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
The fire broke out on the evening of May 21 at a government boarding school serving remote Indigenous villages in central Guyana.
Investigators and government employees inspect the school dormitory where a fire killed at least 19 people in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
Officials said 57 girls had been inside the dorm at the time, and that all the doors had been locked from the inside.
Relatives and friends of the victims of a fire on the eve that killed at least 19 youths and injured about 20 others in a schoolgirls’ dormitory, cry during a meeting with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, in Mahdia, Guyana, on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
Rescuers managed to pull at least 20 students from the burning building, but more than two dozen were injured, including one critically.
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)
Officials said the dorm mom had locked the doors to stop the girls, aged between 12 and 18, from sneaking out to socialize with men at night.
Relatives of victims of the fire on a school dormitory cry at the hospital in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
Local media reported that the 5-year-old boy who died was the dorm mom’s son.
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)
Investigators said a girl, who is between 14 and 15 years old, had set fire to the building because she was angry that her mobile phone had been confiscated.
View of 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)
Officials said the girl had lit the blaze after she was disciplined by the dorm mom for having an affair with an older man.
Relatives and friends of the victims of a fire on the eve that killed at least 19 youths and injured about 20 others in a schoolgirls’ dormitory, cry during a meeting with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, in Mahdia, Guyana, on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
Police are expected to charge the man with statutory rape as the girl is under 16, AP reported.
View of 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)
The girl, who was not identified, was also injured in the fire and appeared in a virtual hearing on Monday May 29, when she was charged with 19 counts of murder.
Investigators and government employees inspect the school dormitory where a fire killed at least 19 people in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Keno GEORGE / AFP) (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
Officials said she will be discharged from hospital this week and held in juvenile detention until she is an adult, according to AP.
Relatives and friends of the victims of a fire on the eve that killed at least 19 youths and injured about 20 others in a schoolgirls’ dormitory, cry during a meeting with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, in Mahdia, Guyana, on May 22, 2023. (Photo by KENO GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
