Mon 22 May 2023:
At least 20 people died in a fire at the Mahdia Secondary School in Guyana, AFP news agency reported on Monday citing a government official.
The Guyanese government said in a press statement that the fire broke out in the dormitory building of a secondary school in the south-western border town of Mahdia, 200 miles (320km) south of the capital, Georgetown.
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“Five planes have already taken off to Mahdia to support the regional health officials with additional medical supplies and medivacs,” the government said in a statement.
“We have lost many beautiful souls in that fire,” the government said. It added that several other pupils were being treated for injuries and at least seven had been flown to the capital for treatment.
The fire began shortly after midnight at the school, which serves mostly Indigenous young people aged 12-18, according to the national security adviser Gerald Gouveia. He said it was too early to speculate what might have caused it, adding that heavy thunderstorms in the area posed a challenge to those responding by air.
At least 20 people died in a fire at the Mahdia Secondary School in Guyana, AFP news agency reported on Monday citing a government official. pic.twitter.com/xQz0zflP7c
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 22, 2023
“It was a battle for us,” he said. “The pilots were very brave, very determined.”
He said the government and emergency responders “made a gigantic effort” to save all those who could be saved.
The Stabroek News newspaper reported that the fire broke out in a girls’ dormitory.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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