Guyana Girls Dorm Fire That Killed 19 Deliberately Set By Student, Official Says

Investigators in Guyana suspect a student who was angry that her mobile phone was taken was responsible for starting the fire that killed 19 people, mostly girls, locked in a school dormitory, a top official said on Tuesday.

According to National Security Advisor Gerald Gouveia, the suspect in the fire late Sunday, who is one of the numerous injured persons, had been disciplined by the dorm management for having an affair with an older man.

According to Gouveia, the student reportedly threatened to ignite the hostel and then started a fire in a restroom area.

In order to stop the girls from snatching away, the dorm supervisor, or house mother, had closed the building for the night when the fire erupted inside the wood, concrete, and iron-grilled structure, according to Gouveia.

"She did this out of love for them. She felt she was forced to do so because many of them leave the building at night to socialize," Gouveia told The Associated Press.

"This is a very sad situation, but the state is going to work with the students and the families to provide all the support they need."

The victims, all but one of whom were Indigenous girls between the ages of 12 and 18, came from isolated areas that the boarding school in Mahdia, a mining settlement close to the Brazilian border, serviced. The remaining victim was the five-year-old son of the house mother.

Although firefighters were able to save individuals by cutting holes through one of the walls, many of the victims were trapped as the structure burnt.

"The house mother was asleep at the time inside the building but panicked and could not find the right keys to unlock the building from inside, but she made it out. She also lost her five-year-old child in the fire," Gouveia said.

Many of the nine hospitalized patients are in critical condition, AP News reported.

Because the student was under 16, police were likely to accuse the man who was involved with her statutory rape, according to Gouveia.

The victims, all but one of whom were Indigenous girls between the ages of 12 and 18, came from isolated areas that the boarding school in Mahdia, a mining settlement close to the Brazilian border, serviced.

The remaining victim was the five-year-old son of the house mother.

Although firefighters were able to save individuals by cutting holes through one of the walls, many of the victims were trapped as the structure burnt.

Many of the nine hospitalized patients are in critical condition.

Police were expected to charge the man who had a relationship with the student with statutory rape because she was under 16, according to Gouveia.

According to Gouveia, the Guyana administration has accepted U.S. offers to deploy forensic and other expert teams to assist with the inquiry.

Additionally, the government dispatched experts in DNA identification to assist in the identification of 13 of the 19 victims who died at the site.

In between Georgetown, the capital, and Madhia, a gold- and diamond-mining town, there are around 200 miles.

If the service had been notified of the fire earlier, more lives may have been spared, according to deputy fire chief Dwayne Scotland, who spoke to the AP.

According to him, locals were unsuccessfully attempting to put out the fire and evacuate residents when firemen arrived.

"Leaders from all over the world have been offering to help us at this time. They were calling and messaging President Ali (Irfaan) while he was on the ground in Madhia on Monday," Gouveia said.

"The building was well engulfed," he said.

The most recent deadliest fire in the nation, which killed 17 inmates in the main Georgetown jail in 2016, was surpassed by this week's dormitory fire.

The structure intended to house 500 criminals but holding 1,100 instead was set on fire by some inmates who were upset over trial delays and overcrowding.

As a result, 17 inmates died and approximately a dozen others suffered severe injuries.