School dormitory fire in Guyana kills at least 20 pupils

At least 20 pupils have been killed in a fire in a school dormitory in Guyana, authorities have said.

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, reports The Guardian.

“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.

“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.

The opposition parliamentarian Natasha Singh-Lewis called for an in-depth investigation. “We need to understand how this most horrific and deadly incident occurred and take all necessary measures to prevent such a tragedy from happening again in the future,” she said.