School dormitory fires wreak terror, killing innocents in their sleep!

On the 22nd day of May in the year 2023, medical professionals in Gorgetown, Guyana, underwent the transfer of salvaged students from a dormitory blaze at Mahdia secondary school to numerous hospitals.

As per the AFP database, one of the most nefarious infernos to plague a boarding establishment, resulting in a death toll of 20, mainly comprising children, occurred in Guyana’s school. Here are some additional examples:

2001: 67 decease in Kenya

An arsonist targeted the dormitory of Kyanguli Mixed Secondary School David Mutiso, where 58 victims aged from 14 to 18 perished in March 2001 within the southern Machakos district of Kenya. Hospitalization followed for nine individuals, leading to loss of life subsequently. Two students received charges of premeditated murder. Prosecutions toppled down on the school’s headmaster and vice principal, responsible for negligence.

1994: 40 demise in Tanzania

A tragic fire erupted while the pupils slumbered at Shauritanga secondary school in the northern Kilimanjaro region, destroying a dormitory and two additional buildings on the 18th day of June. The incident resulted in 40 fatalities of school children, with an additional 47 sustaining injuries.

2001: 30 demises in Nigeria

At the state school in Bwal-Bwang-Gindiri, a conflagration emerged in the central Nigerian high hills area, incinerating the girls’ hostel on the 5th of March 2001. During the blaze, 30 female students perished in their locked quarters, preventing interactions with their male counterparts. Petroleum-fueled lamps lit the hostel as the town lacked access to electrical power that day.

2019: 28 fatalities in Liberia

An immensely large fire engulfed a Koranic school dormitory in the outskirts of Monrovia, claiming 27 young boys and men ranging from ages 10 to 20 as well as a teacher’s life. Electrical issues were deemed responsible for the inferno. The schoolboys slumbered within the building as the flames raged on.

2017: 23 killed in Malaysia

23 individuals, predominantly adolescents, fell victim to a conflagration that swept through a Malaysian religious school located downtown in Kuala Lumpur, entailing a dormitory with metal bars secured over windows, impeding escape. Scream for help were heard by pupils and instructors, but by-standers observed helplessly. The remains of many victims were interwoven in a heap, indicative of a stampede as individuals sought refuge from the blaze.