By Kiana Wilburg
GEORGETOWN (Reuters) – A student was allegedly responsible for setting a school dormitory fire in central Guyana that killed 19 other children, the mayor of the town where the blaze took place said on Tuesday.
The children, mostly Indigenous girls, died around midnight on Monday, most at the scene.
More than 20 other children were hospitalized because of the fire, which police said on Monday was being investigated as arson.
“I can confirm that the fire was started by a student,” Mahdia’s mayor David Adams told Reuters, adding the pupil was not injured in the fire. He added he could not confirm whether the student was in government custody.
Guyana’s police force would not confirm the involvement of a student in setting the fire, nor would Minister of Education Priya Manickchand.
“I don’t want to speak on the investigation and where this is leading. What I know is that the fire has concluded and they know where the fire was set and it was maliciously set,” Manickchand told Reuters. “I don’t want to speak about any particular student at this point.”
Asked about allegations that the dormitory was not outfitted with a modern fire alarm system and that students were not trained in fire drills, Manickchand said, “All of that is under investigation and a report will be issued once that is done. What must come of this is improvement across the sector.”
Burn specialists, psychiatrists and other medical staff were attending to injured children and their families, she added.
The youngest of the fatal victims was the five-year-old son of the dormitory’s caretaker. All other victims were girls, and according to a government list included several siblings and at least one set of twins.
President Irfaan Ali met with some parents of the dead on Monday after visiting Mahdia’s hospital, and declared three days of national mourning.
(Reporting by Kiana Wilburg in Georgetown,; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb and David Gregorio)
