so sad:An investigation of a dormitory fire in Guyana that destroyed the lives of twenty children reveals a dealth number of challenges…
Guyana’s Georgetown (AP) — Multiple mistakes and systemic failings were discovered by a government panel in Guyana that was tasked with looking into a fire that claimed the lives of 20 children at an Indigenous boarding school.
The report, which was given to President Irfaan Ali late on Friday, called for reforms to prevent a recurrence of the deadly 2023 fire and revealed that there had been a delay in requesting assistance and getting in touch with the fire station. Additionally, there had been problems with crowd control and access to the dormitory, which was situated in the town of Mahdia, close to the Brazilian border.
In addition, the assessment discovered “inadequacies” in the fire department and firefighting apparatus, as well as a shortage of water supplies.
The inquiry chair and retired army chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Joseph Singh, stated, “These factors assisted with the speed of the conflagration.”
According to the article, a 15-year-old student who was later caught and charged with many counts of murder, ignited the fire on purpose in May 2023. The dormitory manager’s infant son and nineteen students perished. At least 14 additional students under the age of eighteen were also saved from the burning one-story structure.
In order to keep unwelcome adult visitors out of the hostel, investigators discovered that several of the windows had iron grills. Panicked dorm officials were unable to locate the keys to five doors without grills in time to save lives.
“Human failure” in “chaotic and fiery circumstances” was mentioned in the study.
Grills were installed on windows, according to police, to keep some of the young females from running away at night or on the weekends to hang out with miners who try to woo them with flashy objects like gold, diamonds, and cash. The panel argued that since the acts are carried out “with the tacit support of family members who benefit financially from such arrangements,” such a culture has to change.
Noting that educators and other authorities face “tremendous difficulties in the behavioral pattern and changes in many schools, and we now have to work and see how we incorporate a higher degree of discipline through a systemic intervention,” President Ali echoed calls for a shift in the culture of both adults and students.
Guyana’s government builds dormitory schools to house students from rural communities while their parents carry out daily chores such as hunting and farming. Months after the fire, government officials said they would pay $25,000 to the parents of each of the children who died in the fire as part of a settlement.
