Fire at student dormitory in Guyana leaves at least 20 dead

Twenty people died and several others were injured in a fire at a student dormitory in Guyana, according to a statement from the Department of Public Information released on Monday.

“It is with great sadness that we bring you a heartbreaking update on the Mahdia High School dorm fire. We lost many beautiful souls in that fire. The death toll currently stands at 20, while others were injured,” the statement read.

The statement did not specify whether the dead were students, faculty or other staff.

The Department of Public Information added that “at this time, seven children are prepared to be airlifted to Georgetown.”

Five planes were sent to Mahdia to support regional health authorities with medical supplies, according to the Public Information Department.

Mark Anthony Phillips Guyana’s prime minister, is in Madhia, in the center of the country, with a team of ministers and officials alongside Minister Ben, who heads the Ministry of the Interior.

“The President and other officials are supporting efforts at Ogle to receive critically ill patients and coordinate the emergency action plan. A large-scale medical emergency action plan has been implemented,” the statement said.

Earlier, Guyana’s government had announced that it was preparing for a “large-scale medical evacuation response” following a fire in a school dormitory in the center of the country, the government announced on Monday.

“Bad weather and overcast skies are seriously hampering this exercise,” the statement added.

The dormitory at Mahdia Secondary School, where the fire broke out, is at the center of the Guyanese government’s efforts to improve the level of education in the less developed part of the country.

In previous government statements, they describe the construction of the school dormitory as an effort to “bridge the gap between the interior and the coast”.