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According to police, the girl set the fire after her phone was confiscated.
A 15-year-old teenager was charged Monday with 19 counts of murder for allegedly setting a deadly fire in a school dormitory in Guyana.
RELATED:
20 Guyanese Girls Die in the Mahdia School Dormitory Fire
The fire broke out on May 21 in a school dormitory in the central city of Mahdia and killed 18 girls, mostly indigenous, and a five-year-old boy.
According to police, the girl set the fire after "the dormitory mother and a teacher took her [cell] phone."
The Guyana Chronicle reported that the girl appeared by video before the Diamond Magistrate's Court in the capital, Georgetown. The court said that the teenager, who is being held at the Guyana Juvenile Detention Centre, will remain in custody pending further proceedings.
A teenage girl has been charged with 19 counts of murder for allegedly starting a deadly fire in a school dormitory in #Guyana. The 15-year-old is accused of starting a fire in a school dormitory, killing 19, after her cell phone was confiscated.#PoliticalUprising pic.twitter.com/W5OZZjR0B6
— Political Uprising (@Political_Up) May 29, 2023
Of the 19 dead, 13 could not be visually identified after the fire, according to a government statement. The government later said DNA tests had been used to confirm their identities and return the victims' bodies to their families.
Nearly 30 children were hospitalized for injuries sustained in the fire. Two girls in critical condition were flown to New York on Saturday for special treatment.
Guyana's Education Minister Priya Manickchand said the school's alarm system and fire drills are being investigated.
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