The fire started after 11 p.m. Sunday.
Twenty children died in a fire in a student residence at the Mahdia Secondary School, 161 kilometers southwest of Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, the Government of the South American country reported Monday.
“This is horrendous. We still do not know exactly the cause of the fire, although that is not a priority right now. Our priority now is the children and that we provide them with as much help as possible,” Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali said in a statement.
For its part, the Guyana Department of Public Information stated in a statement: “We have lost many beautiful souls in that fire. The death toll currently stands at 20, while other people have been injured.”
According to authorities, the fire started after 11 p.m. Sunday.
Ali said that the operations are organized so that the two largest hospitals in the capital receive the wounded who need care.
Similarly, a medical area was established at the Eugene F. Correia ‘Ogle’ International Airport to treat some of the most critically injured.
“All efforts are being made to have a full-scale evacuation and reinforcement medical response,” Ali said.
Several private planes and military ships were also sent to Mahdia.
Meanwhile, the opposition alliance Association for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU + AFC) called for an investigation into the cause of the fire and for it to be made public.
EFE
