On May 21, 2023, a fire broke out in a secondary school dormitory in Mahdia, Potaro-Siparuni, Guyana, killing at least 20 people.
[7][8][9] A press release from the Amerindian Peoples Association stated that some of the students came from the indigenous communities of Micobia, Chenapou and Karisparu.
[1] The fire was made worse by the fact that the dorm administrator was unable to locate her keys, due to a state of panic.
[13] Heavy thunderstorms made it more difficult to fight the fire from the air and to fly injured children to other areas for treatment.
[12] Thirteen of the victims were burnt beyond recognition, and DNA samples were sent to the Mount Sinai laboratory in New York City, with the help of Barbados, to identify their remains.
[18] A critically injured 13-year-old girl was flown to New York on May 28 for treatment at Northwell Health's Regional Burn Center at Staten Island University Hospital.
[5] A firefighter spokesperson indicated that the suspected point of origin was identified as being in the southwestern end of the building during a press conference the day after the fire.
[22][23] The opposition alliance APNU+AFC said it would seek a thorough investigation and thanked people in the community for helping authorities rescue trapped children.
Opposition lawmaker Natasha Singh-Lewis said "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".