Enraged teenager who had her cellphone confiscated started fire that killed 19 children in Guyana

Her fire which claimed 19 lives children – eighteen schoolgirls and a little boy – on Sunday (21/5) in a school dormitory in Guyana shouted a teenage girl, angry that her mobile phone had been taken from her, a government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Tuesday.

“Student is suspected of causing the devastating fire due to the confiscation of her cell phone”police also said Tuesday in a press release they released about the school fire in Mahdia, an enclosed mining and quarrying town in the small English-speaking South American country.

The government source clarified that the young woman confirmed that she was indeed responsible.

The dorm managers “They confiscated her mobile phone and the girl threatened the same night that she would set fire to the building and that the whole world would hear her”the official said.

The minor, who is in hospital under police guard, went to the bathrooms, sprayed a shower curtain with insecticide and set fire to it with a matchthe source continued, citing female classmates who gave identical accounts of the events.

“According to the students, they were sleeping when they were woken up by screams. They saw fire and smoke in the bathroom area, which quickly spread throughout the building,” according to the police text.

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

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

“Couldn’t find the key”

The tragedy was made worse by the fact that the person in charge of the dormitory “panicked” and was unable to find the key to the door of the building, whose windows had bars installed. The door was locked every night at 9 p.m., the same source added.

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

Men broke down the door to rescue survivors, including the girl who set the fire.

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

The day before Monday, Guinea’s police chief, Clifton Hicken, told the press that the first evidence of the investigation indicated that the fire was due to “malicious action”.

Thirteen girls and the little boy died on the spot, five other girls succumbed to their injuries at a hospital in Mahdia district.

The authorities declared three days of national mourning.