National Security Advisor to the President, Captain Gerald Gouveia at the Ogle Airport this morning told reporters that persons are still being medevaced to Georgetown, while doctors and other health care workers were already dispatched to the district to aid in the medical emergency.
He noted too that investigators were flown into the district this morning to ascertain the cause of the blaze. Captain Gouveia said it was an uphill task to medivac several of the injured students following a blaze which killed at least 19 students who resided in the female dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary School.
He noted that the incident is a national emergency that was conducted under very dangerous situations, especially since pilots had flown through heavy rainfall and lightning in some districts. Mahdia is also known to be mountainous, which also poses a danger to the pilots who made several trips, in and out of the district.
“This is a case where everyone put their shoulders to the wheel and made a gigantic effort to try and save who we could have saved and I think a great effort was made,” the Presidential Advisor said. He noted that the President will be flying into the location to meet with the grieving family members of the deceased students.
Gouveia also expressed the view that the incident is a “horrific one” stating, “For those of us who are old enough to have lived through massacres such as the one obtained in Lusignan, Bartica and even Jonestown, I think this takes the cake; this is a day that will live with me because these children did not deserve to die like this.”
In the wee hours of Monday morning, fire broke out in the dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary School, killing 19 students, including one boy who was the son of the dorm master. The incident has thrown Mahdia into a state of mourning.
