According to an official, a student deliberately started a fire that killed 19 people in a secondary school dormitory located in Guyana.
Investigators believe that the suspect, who was among those injured, was angry because her phone was taken.
Gerald Gouveia, national security advisor, was quoted as saying that she had been disciplined for having an “affair with an older man” by the dormitory administrator.
He said that the student had threatened to burn down the dorm, and then set fire to a bathroom.
The final victim was a five-year old boy, the son of the woman who is in charge of the dorms.
The majority of victims were trapped inside the burning building and died, but firefighters managed to save others by smashing a wall.
In hospital, nine people are still in serious condition.
Sky News: Read more about this story
A father who was killed after helping a family of ducks to cross a busy road
Toddler shoots his mother and a murder suspect
Mr Gouveia explained how the fire spread throughout the dormitory, which was locked by the housemother to prevent the girls sneaking out.
He said that “she was doing this out of love for the girls” since so many “leaved the building in the evening to socialise”.
He said: “The housemother was sleeping at the time in the building, but panicked when she couldn’t find the keys to open the building from within. But she managed to get out.
She also lost her five year old child in the fire.
To identify those who were killed at the scene, forensic work will be carried out.
Mr Goveia also said that the man who is alleged to have had a relationship with the suspect will be charged as a statutory rape because she was underage.
reply
retweet
favourite
