A 15-year-old girl accused of starting a fire in a school dormitory in Guyana last week was charged with 19 murders on Monday.
The fire killed 18 girls, most of them indigenous people, and a five-year-old boy in the building in the town of Mahdia, in central Guyana. The teenager started the fire after her phone was confiscated, police explained.
The teenager is held in Guyana’s juvenile detention center and the charges against her were formalized during a virtual hearing at the Court of Justice.
In the early hours of May 22, students woke up screaming and saw fire and smoke in the dorm bathroom, according to authorities.
Nearly 30 children were hospitalized, while two girls in critical condition were flown to New York on Saturday (27) for medical attention.
Authorities identified 13 victims through DNA testing, and the remains were returned to their families for burial.
The dormitory’s fire alarm system and the school’s fire drills are being investigated, Guyanese Education Minister Priya Manickchand said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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