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A major fire in Mahdia, Guyana

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 12:06:52 

20 school children died in dormitory - many others injured. This is too sad.

 
ray 2023-05-22 12:18:00 

just heard...may their souls rest in peace

 
Discourse 2023-05-22 12:18:18 

In reply to Chrissy

WoW!!! Major disaster.

Local news reports said those who perished were females in the dormitory for girls.


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RIP and Condolences to all concerned.

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 12:22:28 

Mahdia

Mahdia was established in 1884, by the Africans after their emancipation. After the Africans were emancipated a group of them begin their journey in search of gold. They travelled the county of Berbice and the East Coast of Demerara in hopes of finding such. The town was then expanded by the British Consolidated Mining Company into a mining exploration and Colonial Administrative Offices were established. At this stage, the only way to access the town was by water. Giving the need to link Mahdia to Bartica via trail, a bridge was constructed over the Garraway Stream in November 1933. It was named Denham Suspension bridge after the then Colonial Governor Sir Edward Denham. The bridge is suspended by cables, thus bearing the word suspension in its name. To date the bridge is still in use and has become a tourist site.

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 12:23:05 

In reply to ray
Horrific

 
anthonyp 2023-05-22 12:24:46 

A five-year-old boy, identified as Adoni, perished in the fire which engulfed the dormitory for girls at the Mahdia Secondary School late Sunday night and into Monday morning.



There were an estimated 57 girls who resided in the dormitory. They were from the mountain villages of Chenapau, Karisparu, Micobie and El Paso.

A total of 19 girls have been confirmed dead, health authorities in the Region have confirmed.


When the blaze was put out, the News Room understand that 14 bodies were pulled from the rubble.

Of the children who managed to escape the building, 29 were transported to the Mahdia district hospital, where five died.

One student died on the way to Georgetown, a senior health official confirmed.


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Chrissy 2023-05-22 12:26:11 

In reply to Discourse
I’ve been to Orinduik. but never to Mahdia. This is heartbreaking.

cry cry cry

 
anthonyp 2023-05-22 12:27:44 

Gouveia described the operation as “a national effort”, saying all major local airlines responded immediately.

Getting into Mahdia continues to be problematic, with Gouveia describing it as a “battle.”

“There was a lot of lighting and thunder,” Gouveia related, but he said “the pilots were very brave, very determined” as the authorities tried to save who they can.

Gouveia said it was the worst among the tragedies he has seen in his lifetime working in search and rescue operations.

“These children did not deserve to die like this,” Gouveia stated.


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anthonyp 2023-05-22 12:28:38 

RIP little ones... heatbreaking news to wake up to cry

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 12:51:03 

In reply to anthonyp

So sad- I’m sure most of these young girls are indigenous Guyanese.
Locked dormitories are always bad news.

 
anthonyp 2023-05-22 12:57:00 

In reply to Chrissy

Most of them are indigenous Guyanese from small villages near the Pakaraima mountain range. Four cousins, twin sisters and the 5 year old boy identified so far.

Apart from Jeffery, 18 other girls died in the tragedy. They include Jeffrey’s cousins Sabrina John, 16; Loreen Evans, 14; and Belnisa Evans,13. They were all from Karisparu Village. The other girls identified so far are twin sisters, Mary and Martha Dandrade. A five-year-old boy, Adoni also perished also in the fire.


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Chrissy 2023-05-22 13:05:09 

In reply to anthonyp

Locked dormitories are always the worst fire hazard - the children could not escape until someone opened the grill.
Take that to the bank. This is heart-breaking.

 
StumpCam 2023-05-22 13:09:25 

Wow! Sad! Hopefully this brings about some new safety standards for buildings that housed large groups of people! sad

 
VIX 2023-05-22 13:19:37 

incomprehensible!
How could that happen? Why did so many die??

 
doosra 2023-05-22 13:27:48 

In reply to Chrissy

tragic

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 14:14:00 

In reply to VIX

Simple - the person with the padlock key was sleeping.
Villages in this region are home to one of the largest number of Guyanese who are Afro-Amerindians.

The ex-slaves ran as far as they could looking for Eldorado.

 
Elsie 2023-05-22 14:27:21 

In reply to Chrissy


Chrissy...! this thing happened last night....

Why are you bringing up slavery and ethnicity into this tragedy..

Spare us the history lesson...

R.I.P. to all who perished.. If it's true that the dormitory was locked, then we have to re-examine the purpose of keeping the premises locked..

 
tops 2023-05-22 14:31:14 

In reply to Chrissy
Extremely sad. sad
cry

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 14:42:03 

In reply to Elsie

What the hell is wrong with you? Mahdia is an historic town in Guyana because ex-slaves ran to the centre of the country and built the village after emancipation long before it became a town. Most people here don't know a damn thing about Mahdia.
If you have a problem with the history, stay off the thread.

 
Elsie 2023-05-22 14:53:33 

In reply to Chrissy

There's a time and place for everything...

The main story is about a tragic fire in a high school dormitory in Guyana's countryside.

Kids died... No need to go into their racial makeup, 'Afro-Amerindian', why did you feel the need to mention that...?

You self said that you never been to Mahdia... but yet you're bisecting the people's ethnicity.... less than 24 hours after a major tragedy...

You need to check yourself..

 
camos 2023-05-22 14:56:25 

sad! hope there are lessons learned.

 
trev114 2023-05-22 14:58:54 

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anthonyp 2023-05-22 15:15:48 

Four cousins, twin sisters and now two more sisters...

Two sisters were among those killed following a fire that ripped through the Mahdia girls’ dormitory Sunday night/Monday morning.

The girls, Delicia Edwards, 15, and Arianna, 13, were not accounted for when rescue services arrived on the scene. A total of 14 bodies, 13 girls and one boy, were recovered when the fire was put out; Delicia and Arianna were among them.

Five of the 29 girls who were rushed to the Mahdia Hospital died.

The Edwards girls, from Micobie village, were the only girls in the family. Their mother died several years ago while their father worked in the gold mines, their cousin, Lucia Charles, told the News Room.

The girls had one brother who attends school in Georgetown.


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sudden 2023-05-22 15:22:03 

In reply to Chrissy

thanks Chrissy. i thought that bit of history lent some historical and personal context around the people involved in this tragedy.

my heart and condolences go out to the families and the village of Mahdia

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 18:21:23 

In reply to sudden
Thanks bro. Cyan help some peeps

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 18:22:10 

In reply to anthonyp
Real sad - they were all so,young.

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 21:54:31 

Update
Oh skites the fire was set by one of the students because her phone was taken away

The devastating fire which ripped through the female dormitory at the Mahdia Secondary School was maliciously set by a student of the school, well-placed sources have told the News Room.

The student, the News Room was reliably told, was upset after her phone was taken away over objections by the school that she was engaging in matters dangerous to her well-being with an adult. She had pledged to give “trouble” over the actions taken against her.

The student was seen by other students spraying a substance in the air and then igniting a fire. The fire was set to some mattresses just outside the bathroom area of the dormitory.

 
sudden 2023-05-22 22:53:57 

In reply to Chrissy

Now historical and personal context around the people involved in this tragedy will come into sharp relief

These young people, their cells and iPads and social media.

What a combustible combination!!!

 
Chrissy 2023-05-22 23:27:05 

In reply to sudden
The new technologies are creating new dimensions of instability. Young people are obsessed with their phones.

 
tops 2023-05-22 23:35:48 

In reply to Chrissy
WOW! Just WOW!
shock

 
Chrissy 2023-05-23 00:28:34 

In reply to tops
Obsession bro. These phones are their lives.

 
Emir 2023-05-23 00:39:24 

In reply to Chrissy
Very very Sad indeed !!!!

Thanks for sharing the history about this town.

 
tops 2023-05-23 00:53:18 

In reply to Chrissy
Chrissy, I know. U wouldn't believe me, about a year ago I was listening to the news and the discussion was whether they should remove a pole that was in the middle of a sidewalk in Markham On. So, they were interviewing this 17 years old girl. Her response was...
Well, I think they should remove it... but is like, like I'm walking... and like I'm looking at my phone and like I can walk into it.
My thought, that's Y they should leave it there. razz

 
Chrissy 2023-05-23 01:58:34 

In reply to tops
I completely believe you.
I was in a dining room on campus earlier this year. At a table close by were four female students. Each was gazing into her phone and they never spoke with one another.
Before I retired a student came to explain her late assignment. Her friend was in the hospital. She was crossing the road near the stadium and was hit by a car and she was brain dead. I suggested that her friend was brain dead long before she was hit.
They watch the phone not traffic.
Madness bro.

 
CricSham 2023-05-23 02:10:25 

In reply to Elsie
Elsie, you are in a minority here my dear. I’m thinking, perhaps, you don’t live in the United States. Everything in today’s world must be viewed through the lens of “cultural awareness” and “institutional racism”.

 
nick2020 2023-05-23 02:47:56 

In reply to Chrissy

Condolences to all. Heartbreaking news.

 
Dukes 2023-05-23 12:12:45 

In reply to Chrissy

I remember back in the day, one of Charlie's class mates, lost both her parents in a fire in Jamaica .Both bodies were found at the grill door because in the panic to get out they could not find the keys to the locked grill.

 
Chrissy 2023-05-23 12:18:57 

In reply to Dukes
Same thing happened in Trinidad with a seven year old - one of my little babies.
The window was grilled and she could not get out.
Locked grilled doors/windows are worse than gas in a night/early morning fire no matter how it starts.
This is horrific.

 
defeyeant 2023-05-23 14:34:22 

Absolutely Heart wrenching news.

 
SnoopDog 2023-05-23 16:11:51 

In reply to Chrissy

I'm guessing there were no smoke detectors in the dormitory?

These things are so preventable. I feel for the family of these poor children.

 
WI_cricfan 2023-05-23 16:35:25 

This is indeed tragic.

I hope building codes will change after this

 
Chrissy 2023-05-23 17:06:43 

In reply to SnoopDog
These areas don’t have basic roads and you’re looking for smoke detectors.

 
Dukes 2023-05-23 18:03:19 

In reply to WI_cricfan

I hope building codes will change after this


When last you went to Guyana???

 
BeatDball 2023-05-23 18:32:53 

Sad, but more cruel, horrific & malicious that a fellow student could do that!

 
Cricket_101 2023-05-23 20:48:17 

In reply to Chrissy
Very Sad Indeed... RIP little souls.

 
Chrissy 2023-05-23 22:23:13 

What did I tell allyuh. Locked in with a grilled door

AP
By Bert Wilkinson
23 May, 2023 03:50 PM
3 mins to read

Investigators in Guyana believe a fire that killed 19 mostly girls trapped in a school dormitory was deliberately set by a student who was upset that her mobile phone was confiscated, a top official said.

The suspect in the fire late Sunday (local time), who is among several injured people, had been disciplined by the dorm administrator for having an affair with an older man, National Security Adviser Gerald Gouveia said. The student allegedly threatened to torch the dorm and later set a fire in a bathroom area, Gouveia said.

The fire raced through the wood, concrete and iron-grilled building after it had been locked for the night by the dorm administrator — or house mother — to prevent the girls from sneaking out, Gouveia said.

“She did this out of love for them. She felt she was forced to do so because many of them leave the building at night to socialise,” Gouveia told The Associated Press. “This is a very sad situation, but the state is going to work with the students and the families to provide all the support they need.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/guyana-dorm-fire-that-killed-19-was-deliberately-set-by-student-official-says/ZX3FQIGXDRAWXKOM6C2DBSZ7YY/

 
StumpCam 2023-05-24 01:30:07 

In reply to Chrissy

Instead of locking the dorm, they could’ve employed security guards!
I once lived in a dorm, in Guyana, with high fences and security guards to prevent such a thing!
Yes, it felt like a prison, but that’s what was required to keep people children safe! And that was over 40 years ago!

 
Chrissy 2023-05-24 01:59:34 

In reply to StumpCam
Bro these days di security guards would be checking di girls.
I had teenaged friends right there in GT who would meet boyfriends after parents were asleep and head to parties. Teenagers will be teenagers and some a dem are careless on steroids. It is a very complex matter - security v fire safety.

 
Dukes 2023-05-24 07:37:05 

In reply to Chrissy

Sadly,most of the people on this board have little idea as to the challenges faced by people at the bottom rung of the ladder in the Caribbean.The grooming of pre-teen indigenous girls and just how common pre teen sex is among them is mind-boggling

 
Chrissy 2023-05-24 10:04:36 

In reply to Dukes
Yep

 
CricSham 2023-05-24 10:43:39 

In reply to Dukes
Dukes, promiscuity is rampant among children from every walk of life, the privileged and non privileged all over the world. In the US we have fifth graders engaging in oral sex, girl on girl, boy on boy, in school bathrooms. It’s a direct result of the popular culture fueled by social media, TV, movies, etc., and the ramming down of the LGBTLQRSTUVWXYZ agenda down society’s throat. It also did not help when the sitting US President Bill Clinton testified to the world that oral sex was not sex. Teenagers in America took that and ran. Parents and schools felt helpless. The sad part is that it is here to stay.

 
SnoopDog 2023-05-24 13:50:11 

In reply to CricShamDotard

It also did not help when the sitting US President Bill Clinton testified to the world that oral sex was not sex.

It’s a direct result of the popular culture fueled by social media, TV, movies, etc., and the ramming down of the LGBTLQRSTUVWXYZ agenda down society’s throat.


What an absolute steaming pile of dotard shit you just spat out there pal.

 
SnoopDog 2023-05-24 13:53:08 

In reply to Chrissy

Bro these days di security guards would be checking di girls.


It's a girls school. Surely they would hire female security guards!

 
BeatDball 2023-05-24 14:50:13 

In reply to CricSham True true story as my Essequibo granny, my Berbice naahny & my Demerara big aunty would say!


Ps. DogPoop leans so hard left that he always make right angle turns (instead of arc shaped) whilst driving sedans!!
razz big grin

 
SnoopDog 2023-05-24 15:10:32 

In reply to Dotardballs

I keep you ignorant dotards in check at every turn.

Left or right. lol

 
nick2020 2023-05-24 15:20:52 

In reply to CricSham

Dukes promiscuity is rampant


You had to hide your 20 year old daughter from the doc?

 
CricSham 2023-05-24 16:37:27 

In reply to nick2020
Nick I know you meant that as a joke but please don’t disrespect the doc that way!

 
StumpCam 2023-05-24 17:58:16 

In reply to Dukes

I have known men(pork knockers) who have spent years in the bush under the guise of gold mining, but never came home with any nuggets! Instead, they came home with bush yaws and other maladies!
I was always curious about pork knocking! razz

 
VIX 2023-05-29 14:02:32 

Police have received legal advice to charge the 15-year-old girl who allegedly set the female dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary school on fire with 19 counts of murder.

The News Room was reliably informed that the file was recently resent to the Police with recommendation that the girl face a murder charge for each life claimed in the horrific fire.

She is likely to face the courts early in the new week.

A total of 19 children– 18 girls and one boy- died in the devastating fire which started after 23:00 hrs on May 21.

 
Chrissy 2023-05-29 15:16:31 

In reply to VIX
A serious tragedy. They had to use dna to identify the remains of most of the kids.

cry cry

 
BeatDball 2023-05-29 16:04:55 

Why was the securing of the doors/windows of this structure like a fortress...if it was primarily a girls' school? Isn't a Police station nearby? Aren't they ever on patrols?
confused evil

 
anthonyp 2023-05-29 16:44:34 

The 15-year-old student who is accused of setting the Mahdia Secondary female dormitory on fire was on Monday charged with 19 counts of murder and remanded to the Juvenile Holding Centre, Sophia, Georgetown.

The teenager appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce via Zoom at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court. The student cannot be named because she is a juvenile.

She was not required to plea to the indictable charges.


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Dukes 2023-05-29 21:34:37 

In reply to VIX

I see you are very concerned about the goings on in Guyana,scouring the Guyana newspapers.I love this Caricom spirit. Keep it going and continue to set an example to the other members of this board!!!

As Brother Bob would say I love this INITY!!!!!

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

 
anthonyp 2023-05-30 15:02:57 

RIP little one cry

Following two successful resuscitations since the Mahdia dorm fire on May 21, Sherana Daniels, 13, passed away at the Georgetown Public Hospital Tuesday morning at about 10:30hrs.

She was hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with injuries related to carbon monoxide inhalation.

Doctors say the teen girl also suffered cardiac arrests on two occasions.

The girl is from Micobie, Region Eight. She was initially pronounced dead hours after the inferno but the death toll had to be revised since she was successfully resuscitated and flown to the city for medical attention.


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Chrissy 2023-05-30 22:40:02 

In reply to anthonyp
Too sad

wink

 
VIX 2023-05-30 23:05:29 

In reply to Dukes

Caribbean people are my people. Excluding the misfits! big grin