At least 20 dead in school dormitory fire

2023-05-22 12:35:18

At least 20 people, likely the majority of them children, died in a school dormitory fire in central Guyana, Mahdia, a landlocked mining town in this small country in the northeast of the country. ‘South America.

“It is with great sadness that we bring you a heartbreaking update on the Mahdia secondary school dormitory fire. The death toll currently stands at 20.announced the Guyanese government in a press release during the night of Sunday to Monday, May 22, without being able to specify the causes of the disaster yet.

“Several other people were injured”the government said, adding that 5 planes have already taken off for Mahdia to help regional health officials provide additional medical equipment and carry out medical evacuations.

“Pray for these children, their families”

“The President and other officials are supporting efforts at Ogle (Georgetown Airport) to accommodate patients in critical condition and coordinate an emergency response plan. A large-scale medical emergency action plan has been launched,” according to the text “Ask us to continue to pray for these children, their families and their communities”.

“This is a major disaster. It’s horrible, it’s painful,” had previously declared President Irfaan Ali from the airport where he had gone to wait for help. “We are putting in place large-scale medical relief (…) I have also ordered that special arrangements be made” in the two major hospitals in the capital “so that every child who needs attention receives the best care possible”he added.

Huge oil reserves

Mahdia is located about 200 km south of Georgetown, in an area affected by heavy rains.

A small poor English-speaking country of 800,000 inhabitants, Guyana, a former Dutch and then British colony, has the largest oil reserves in the world. per capita and hopes for rapid development in the years to come with the exploitation of these reserves, which is only in its infancy.