THREE juveniles of the Sophia Juvenile Holding Centre were on Monday rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for smoke inhalation, after a mattress was set afire in a cell at the facility.
The fire caused no serious damage to the facility, since it was spotted in the early stages and quickly put out. However, there was heavy police presence at the facility up to late last night.
Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle confirmed to the Guyana Chronicle that the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) responded to a call just after 18:00h and dispatched two tenders to the facility, but the fire was already extinguished by the time they got there.
“There was a fire at the Juvenile Detention Centre this afternoon, where some of the juveniles there set fire to a mattress,” Gentle said.
“No major damage was done to the property, just smoke damage. But about six persons were affected, and three of them had to be medically evacuated for smoke inhalation but they are stable at the hospital,” he added.
No one could give any reason as to why the juveniles would set fire to a mattress, or say how many children were currently housed at the facility.
Housed in the compound of the Sophia Training School, the Holding Centre was commissioned in 2011 at a cost of $37.6M to provide for the detention of juveniles who have been held pending charge, or are on remand.