As the nation continues to pray for the recovery of more than a dozen injured students from the Mahdia Secondary School blaze, six of those students are currently at the Georgetown Public Hospital being treated for burns between 5% to about 30% of their bodies. Guyana Standard understands that the majority of the injured students are currently receiving treatment at the Mahdia Hospital. The more severe cases were sent to Georgetown.
The Georgetown Public Hospital during a press conference this morning outlined that some of the students are being treated for smoke inhalation injuries with burns. Dr. Videka Nanan told the press that two of the students are on ventilators in the High Dependency Unit, while another had undergone surgery to save one of her limbs, due to the magnitude of burns she received. She noted too that the other three are listed as critical, but in a stable condition.
Meanwhile, Minister of Human Services Dr. Vindhya Persaud said the students who are currently housed at the Institution will be continuously monitored by doctors and other health professionals. “In addition to the team here… We are also creating a team to deal with the psychological aspect of all this. There will be a combined team from the mental health Unit, GPHC, the Psychology Unit and the Ministry of Human Services.”
Meanwhile, the Guyana Fire Service said, “At this time, we can confirm that we received the report of the fire at 23:15 p.m. last evening; however, when firefighters arrived on the scene, the building was already completely engulfed in flames, resulting in 19 children losing their lives by the time it was extinguished. Fourteen youths died at the scene, while five died at the Mahdia District Hospital.” The GFS said that it did manage to rescue some 20 students by breaking holes in the north-eastern wall of the building.
