19 confirmed dead; 17 hospitalised

By Shamar Meusa and Clestine Juan

GUYANA was plunged into further sorrow and shock as news emerged on Monday afternoon that the deadly fire at Mahdia, Region Eight, was intentionally set.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer (ag), Dwayne Scotland made this startling revelation during a press conference.

Up to press time on Monday night, the death toll stood at 19. Nine of the 17 students who were injured during the blaze were air-dashed to Georgetown for additional medical care. The others are patients at the Mahdia Hospital.

The dead students have been identified as Bibi Rita Fiona Jeffery, 13; Sabrina John, 16; Loreen Evans, 14; Belnisa Evans,13; twin sisters Mary and Martha D’Andrade, 15; Omefia Edwin, Natalie Bellarmine, and Andrea Roberts, 13; Lorita Williams, Nickleen Robinson, Sherena Daniels, Eulanda Carter, Lisa Roberts, Cleoma Simon, Tracil Thomas and sisters Delecia Edwards, 15; and Arianna Edwards, 13.

Five-year-old Adonijah Jerome, who was the son of one of the House Parents, also perished in the fire.

According to Scotland, the fire originated in the south-western section of the structure, and quickly consumed the entire building.

After conducting their preliminary investigation, the Guyana Fire Service handed over their findings to the Guyana Police Force for further inquiry, and for the intensifying of efforts to uncover the motives behind this heinous act.

“The fire was maliciously set,” Scotland emphasised. He related that the Mahdia Fire Station received an emergency call about the fire at 23:15 hours on Sunday, prompting swift action from the firefighters.

Despite their prompt response, the flames had already engulfed the building upon their arrival, posing significant challenges to the rescue operation.
Nonetheless, the firefighters battled the inferno, managing to save at least 20 students.

The operation persisted for approximately three-and-a-half hours until the fire was eventually brought under control and extinguished.

According to one of the female students who managed to escape, she was awakened by screams, and upon checking, she saw a fire in the bathroom area, which quickly spread to other parts of the building.

Commissioner of Police (ag) Clifton Hicken assured the public that the investigation would be expedited, with the findings to be made public once the process concludes.

Additionally, Hicken revealed that DNA testing would be promptly conducted to positive identify the charred remains of 13 bodies, while post-mortem examinations had already been conducted on six of the deceased.

Expressing his condolences on behalf of the force, Hicken emphasised their commitment to swiftly bring the matter to a close so as to offer some solace to the grieving families.

Brigadier Omar Khan, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and head of the technical committee overseeing the national response, shed light on the efforts undertaken to address the catastrophe.

He said that the military responded to the distress call for a medevac operation which led to the leveraging of resources from the Ministry of Health, joint services, and the private sector.

This coordinated effort involved five aircraft, six ambulances, and over 80 personnel specializing in emergency response, medical care, and security.

“As you know, last night was bad weather and because of this, we had some concerns about flying into this area; however, despite this, our pilots were determined to execute this medical evacuation operations,” Brigadier Khan said.

EMERGENCY PLAN

Following the tragedy, a full-scale medical emergency plan was launched, and saw the quick treatment of those injured in the fire at both the Mahdia District Hospital and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

During a briefing by President Dr. Irfaan Ali, in Mahdia, Regional Health officer Dr. Ravindra Dudhnauth told the nation that hospitalisation and care efforts began late Sunday evening when the first set of patients arrived at the Mahdia District Hospital around 23:30 hours.

According to Dr. Dudnauth, some 26 patients in total came to that facility.

The hospital’s capacity was later boosted by the arrival of additional medical personnel from Georgetown.

The RHO said: “We got a team from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation that came in around 03:29 hours. That team from the Georgetown Public Hospital, along with a team from the Mahdia District Hospital did initial assessment of all the patients.”

Along with this, of those patients received, Dr. Dudhnauth revealed that the first medical evacuation of the first three very critical patients took place around the same time. They were airlifted out of the region and transported to the GPHC for further treatment.

Subsequently, he noted, a second medevac transported three more girls to the city around 06:27 hours.

On Monday afternoon around 14:05 hours, three more were airlifted to the city and transported to the GPHC.

“Currently, there are 17 patients at the hospital, 11 of whom are stable, while there are five that we can still consider stable but critical,” he added.

GPHC

On Monday morning, during a media briefing, Dr. Vickita Nandan provided a report on the six patients who had arrived up to that point.

During that briefing, she noted that those patients had varying degrees of burns that ranged from approximately 30 per cent of the total surface area to about five per cent.

At the time, she noted that two patients were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit where they were intubated and on ventilative support.

One of those patients, according to Dr. Nandan, was rushed to the operating theatre to have limb-saving surgery done due to the extent of the burns received, while the other three patients were admitted to the hospital’s Paediatric High Dependency Unit.

Meanwhile, Dr. Shilindra Rajkumar, who was part of the team that lent support to the Mahdia Hospital, upon his return to the GPHC stated that the situation on the ground was under control, and they would have been able to get to that level after some 12 hours.

Dr. Rajkumar, during a live broadcast, said that they have managed to treat some patients, and have them discharged, and also managed to triage others to determine which of them were in need of a high level of care.

He and his team brought the last three girls to the city.

The doctor explained that of those three, one had a predisposing condition which was exacerbated by possible smoke inhalation as a result of the fire.

The second had some amount of facial burns and respiratory problems, which he and the team tried to manage on the ground but after not reaching much of a resolution, they determined it was best to have her transported to Georgetown.

The third patient, who it was stated did not have a lot of visible burns, had some level of smoke inhalation injury, which could have been a result of her being near the fire for a long time.

PTSD care

According to Dr. Rajkumar, there is also an element of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that the fire victims would be going through, as he added that the children may still be in a state of shock.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Minister of Human Services and Social Protection, Dr Vindhya Persaud during a briefing at the GPHC said that a team effort was underway to be able to provide and ensure the best care is given to those hospitalised at both health facilities.

Dr Persaud said that a team was being created to deal with the psychological aspects of the tragic event even as she noted that a combined team from the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Unit, the GPHC’s Psychiatry and Psychology Units and the welfare and Child Care and Protection Agency officers would be dispatched to the region.

Further, the Guyana Chronicle was able to confirm that this collaborative effort saw a team of psychologists and psychiatrists as of Monday morning on the ground in the region.

According to information reaching this newspaper, due to the severity of the issue and the demand, another team is expected in the town this morning.

A team was also assembled in Georgetown to provide psychological and psychosocial support to the patients who were transported to the city and their relatives.