Guyana: Elderly man accuses teenage girl of killing 19 in fire

A teenage student arrested by Guyana police for allegedly setting fire to a girls’ dormitory was charged as an adult on Monday with 19 counts of manslaughter for killing 18 female classmates and a 5-year-old boy.

The 15-year-old girl barely appeared at a court hearing south of the capital Georgetown, pending further proceedings.

Investigators say he set fire to Mahdia High School on May 21 after being angry with the principal of the boarding school after his cell phone was confiscated. The government school serves remote tribal villages in the southwest of the country.

The defendant was not allowed to make a statement about the charges and will make a second appearance on July 5, when state and defense attorneys will indicate whether they are ready to begin a preliminary hearing. If convicted, she could spend the rest of her life in prison.

A fire broke out at the school shortly before midnight. More than two dozen students were injured, while rescue teams pulled at least 20 people from inside the fenced building. One of the injured students was airlifted to a New York hospital for specialized treatment due to the severity of his injuries, while many of the rest have already been discharged.

All five bedroom doors were locked from the inside.

National Security Adviser Gerald Gouveia said the administration had locked all the doors to prevent girls between the ages of 12 and 18 from sneaking out at night to socialize with adult men from the mining community. He panicked and dropped his keys as flames engulfed the place.

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