(Update) Guyanese school fire victims identified

TEN of the 19 victims of a fire at a Guyanese school dormitory on Sunday night have been identified.

According to the News Room Guyana, they are Bibi Rita Fiona Jeffery; her cousins Sabrina John, 16, Loreen Evans, 14, and Belnisa Evans 13; twin sisters Mary and Martha Dandrade; Omefia Edwards; Natalie Bellarmine; and siblings Delecia and Arianna Edwards.

The tenth is five-year-old Adonijah Jerome. His parents were caretakers of the female dormitory at the Mahdia Secondary School.

According to 9NewsBreak in Guyana, one student reported hearing screaming close to midnight on Sunday. The girl said she saw the bathroom area on fire.

At that time, there were 63 girls in the dormitory.

Of the 19 victims, 14 died in the building, five at the Mahdia District hospital and one died on the way to a hospital in Georgetown.

Caricom's secretary general Dr Carla Barnett sent condolences to the families and people of Guyana on Monday.

"We pray for a speedy recovery for those injured and otherwise impacted and offer the support of Caricom member states as the community returns to normalcy. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this time of unimaginable loss," Barnett said.