“The screams were as if someone was watching a scary movie”

Oct 09, 2023 News

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…senior teacher tells COI of Mahdia Dorm Fire

By Anasa

Kaieteur News – As the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Mahdia school dormitory fire continued its hearings on Friday, Head of Department English, Amanda Peters-Nedd recounted the spine-tingling screams of children trapped in the building as the inferno raged at the facility in May this year.

Peters-Nedd, who was at the time second in charge of the school of the Mahdia Secondary School, told the COI that the, “screams were as if someone was watching a scary movie.”

That night traumatized her entire family leaving her son, a first-year student at the Cyril Potters College of Education (CPCE), diagnosed with acute stress disorder. The trainee teacher was forced to attend sessions at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Psychiatric Clinic and her husband is also undergoing psychology treatment following the fire.

According to Peters-Nedd, she was acting in the capacity of the Deputy Head teacher since the school is a Grade ‘C’ institution and as there wasn’t need for a deputy to be appointed.

After taking an oath, Peters-Nedd dove back into her memory as she recounted the events of May 22^nd 2023.

She informed the COI that she is a teacher by profession for almost 25 years and at the moment, she is currently acting in the capacity of Head Teacher for Uitvlugt Secondary.

Peters- Nedd said she begun working at the Mahdia Secondary School in March 2022. She said she requested of the Ministry of Education to be transferred to the Mahdia Secondary since she wanted to help the Hinterland communities and she noted that there was a need for trained English teachers at the time.

“There was need for English teachers in Region 8 and there was no trained teacher there at that time, so I volunteered to go to Mahdia. I was there with my entire family, except for two of my children.”

She told the commission that her children- ages 9, 10, and 19, as well as her husband, relocated to Mahdia when she assumed duties at the mining town.  Her husband was employed at the Mahdia Secondary male dormitory part-time as a house father, where he would assist in the supervision of the male students residing there. She said he did not sleep at the dormitory as he worked part-time.

Night of the fire

Going back to the night of the incident, she said that around 23:15 hours on May 22^nd 2023, she was in bed when she and her husband heard screaming.

The emotional teacher said, “I was on my bed, reading and my husband asked me to come to the back door and listen. He was in the kitchen and I was in the room. He said come listen and he said “you don’t hear screaming?” and I said man it appears as if the people upstairs are probably watching a scary movie. The sound was like that, the screaming was like you’re watching a scary movie. So I said they are probably watching some scary movie upstairs, because there are teacher living upstairs too.”

She said her husband told her the screaming was emanating from the female dormitory of the school and he ran outside their living quarters and observed flames at the facility. He shouted, “the dorm is on fire” she recounted.

They both ran towards the dormitory, and on reaching the location, students were seen coming out through the middle door to join others who were already outside while the screams of others could have been heard screaming on the inside, however the screams did not last for long.

She said while some students were dark in complexion which she surmised was the smoke which engulfed the facility; some were undressed, causing her to run back to her home to bring them clothing. Peters-Nedd explained that due to the heat at nights, students would often sleep with little to no clothes in order to have some level of comfort.

While public spirited citizens were already at the scene, she said the police arrived a few minutes after her and then the fire department officers came shortly after, with sirens wailing. “When they came (the police) I told them we still have students in the building and they said they are aware and then they start taking the ones that were injured  to the hospital.”

When asked about the matron’s quarters and the battery room, Peters-Nedd told the commission that she wasn’t aware of any separation in the two facilities, since the house mother along with her children were staying in the room where the batteries were also housed. Peters-Nedd said she had raised concerns about the living arrangements, and expressed her concerns for both physical and health reasons.

She said members of the Guyana Fire Service did not seem equipped enough, since they spent five minutes at the scene then left for an extended period of time before returning and spending another five minutes to spray some more water on the flames.

She said during the time the firemen were away, the fire engulfed almost the entire building and she noted that the firemen had no tools to break and enter the building. The residents found a log and gained access by ramming it through the wall, she recounted. This sped up the rescue process Peters-Nedd recalled.

She said that she noticed that when the fire department arrived, half of the building was engulfed in flames. She said that at the front part of the facility closer to the guard hut, housed the lavatory.

Tearfully, she recalled that several students, who her eldest son taught, died in the fire. “Eight of his students passed away. He had a complete body shut down, they had to medevac him out to Georgetown, where he spent an entire week in the hospital. He is currently still attending the Psychiatric Clinic at the Georgetown Hospital and he is also a first-year student at the Teacher’s Training College. But he is still greatly affected by this incident.”

Additionally, she said since the fire, her husband sleeps about 2-3 hours at night. She said her younger children aren’t fully aware of the extent of the situation given their age and her youngest child still talks about it as if it were a movie.

The remainder of the hearing on Friday was held in camera due to the teacher having to give sensitive information in regards to the minor accused of setting the dormitory on fire.

Meanwhile, the other witnesses- the Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain and Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Mae Toussaint Jr. Thomas-Meerabux- were a no show at Friday’s hearings.

The commission granted permission for them to be summoned and to appear on Tuesday, Oct 10^th to testify at the hearing.

 

 

 

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• Mahdia Secondary School, Night of the fire, the Chief Education, the Deputy Head, the Presidential

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