2023-05-22 08:18:00
(CNN) — Twenty people have died and several more have been injured in a school dormitory fire in Guyana, according to a statement from the Department of Public Information issued Monday.
“It is with great sadness that we bring you a heartbreaking update on the Mahdia High School dormitory fire. We have lost many beautiful souls in that fire. The death toll currently stands at 20 while others have been injured,” says the statement.
The statement did not specify whether the deceased were students, teachers or other staff members.
The Department of Public Information added that “at this time, seven children are prepared to be evacuated by helicopter to Georgetown.”
Five planes have been sent to Mahdia to support regional health officials with additional medical supplies and medivacs according to the Department of Public Information.
Brigadier Mark Anthony Phillips, Guyana’s Prime Minister, is in Madhia, located in the center of the country, with a team of ministers and officials alongside Minister Ben, who heads the Home Office.
“The president and other officials are supporting efforts in Ogle to receive critical patients and coordinating an emergency action plan. A full-scale medical emergency action plan has been put in place,” the statement said.
Earlier, the Guyana government had announced it was preparing for a “large-scale medical evacuation response” following a fire in a high school dormitory in the center of the country, the government announced Monday.
“Inclement weather and cloudy skies are seriously hampering this exercise,” the statement added.
The Mahdia Secondary School dormitory, where the fire broke out, is at the center of the Guyanese government’s efforts to improve the level of education in the less developed part of the country. In previous government statements, they describe the construction of the school dormitory as an effort to “bridge the gap between the interior and coastal areas.”
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