Student Lit Deadly Fire at Guyana School After Phone Confiscated: Police

People stand inside the remains of a burnt secondary school dormitory after several children died after a fire gutted the building overnight, in Mahdia, Guyana, on 22 May, 2023. Guyana Presidency/Handout via Reuters

GEORGETOWN—A fire in a school dormitory in Guyana that killed 19 children was lit by a student after school authorities confiscated her cell phone, police said on Tuesday.

The children, mostly Indigenous girls, died around midnight on Monday, most at the scene.