Nineteen students have tragically lost their lives following a fire in a school dormitory.
As reported by the New York Post, officials say the fire was allegedly started by a 14-year-old female student, after teachers at the Mahdia Secondary School, Guyana, confiscated her phone.
A statement issued by the Guyana Fire and Rescue Service claim the blaze was "maliciously set".
National security adviser Gerald Gouveia has stated that the fire was started late on Sunday (May 21) after teachers at the school confiscated the unnamed teenage girl's phone over her alleged relationship with an older man.
After staff confiscated the cell phone, the female teen threatened to torch the dormitory - which was made predominantly of concrete and wood.
The students were locked inside the building as flames tore through - Gouveia revealing that the building had its doors locked and grilled windows in an effort to stop the students from sneaking out at night.
Speaking of the dorm mother, 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 socialize."
"The house mother was asleep at the time inside the building but panicked and could not find the right keys to unlock the building from inside but she made it out," he added.
Gouveia then described the tragedy as "a very sad situation", but insisted that "the state is going to work with the students and the families to provide all the support they need."
Police say that many students were woken by screams as smoke filled the dorm. Officials say 38 students escaped the building after firefighters broke holes in the walls, per Insider.
The teen accused of starting the fire was injured in the blaze. She is expected to be transferred to a juvenile detention center once she is released from hospital.
ABC reports that government pathologists have conducted post-mortems on at least six of the victims, and have listed their cause of death as smoke inhalation and burns.
The government pathologist who conducted post-mortems on six bodies late on Monday listed their cause of death as smoke inhalation and burns, police added.
Per BBC News, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said of the incident: "This is a major disaster. It is horrible, it is painful."
Our thoughts at this time go out to anybody affected by this tragedy.
