US ATF team conducts evaluation at of Mahdia fire site

Jun 03, 2023 News

The ATF team  and local fire officials at site of the Mahdia dormitory fire.

Kaieteur News – The Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosive Unit (ATF) of the United States Department of Justice is currently in Guyana to support the investigation into the Mahdia Secondary School’s female dormitory fire.

In a press statement on Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs reported that Deputy Fire Officer Mr. Dwayne Scotland and his team visited the scene of the Mahdia Secondary School female dormitory on Thursday to collect samples and conduct an evaluation of the scene.

The ministry stated that the team used sieves to sift through the debris at and around the location where the fire is believed to have been started. A reconstruction of the scene was done, and several samples were collected, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the collected samples are expected to be evaluated at the Fire Research Laboratory in the United States.

Further, with the use of computer fire modelling technology, simulation analyses will recreate the fire event. This will provide a predictor of the fire’s growth and behaviour.  Upon completion, a report will be submitted to the Government of Guyana for review.

Twenty children – 19 of them school girls and one 5-year-old boy died as a result of a fire which swept through a heavily-grilled dormitory which housed students of the Mahdia Secondary School on May 21, 2023.

• ATF, evaluation, investigation, Mahdia dorm fire, testing