Mahdia deadly fire CoI: “They started screaming” – dorm’s mother, recalls horror on fateful night

As the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the deadly Mahdia Secondary School fire continued on Thursday, Carlet Williams, the dorm’s mother recalled the harrowing experience – one that is still fresh in her mind and more so, one that will take to her death.

Apart from the 19 female students, Williams also lost her five-year-old son in the devastating fire that erupted on the evening of May 21, 2023.
During her testimony on Thursday, she recalled being awakened by the loud scream of the girls. As she got up and opened her bedroom door, some of the girls ran in.
“They started screaming, ‘Miss, fire, fire in the building.’ So, I decided to grab the key because I know, they were there coming for me to open the door. So, I brought the key and I decided to push way to see where is the fire. I pushed my way, and when I look down the building, the fire was up in the ceiling, heading from the bathroom area.”
At that point, finding to key to open one of the main doors of the building was a struggle.
“I got so scared that I tried to find the key to open the door, and I just couldn’t find the keys. Every time I put my hands on a key, it is not the key. I had to look for the hole on the lock to open and I keep trying from one key to the next,” she recalled.
Amid the confusion and chaos, the bunch of keys fell onto the floor but with the assistance of the girls, the bunch was found. Despite being in possession of the keys, again, she was unable to open the door due to panic and loud screams echoing in her head.
However, for a second time, the bunch of keys fell from her hand and it was then, that she realized that she couldn’t help the girls because the entire building was covered in thick smoke and flames in some sections.
“That didn’t stop me from trying…“I thought to myself, I have to go and kick open the middle door because we have to come out, and I was also wondering, why nobody hearing me from outside, since our building is on fire, and nobody is coming to rescue us.”
Nevertheless, before venturing to the middle section of the building, she went back to her room to get her son but he was not there.
“I couldn’t find him, because the room was full of girls. They were all jumping, and screaming and running. Some of them was on the ground. They were lying there, I couldn’t see, but while walking in the room, trying to find my son, feeling around, I know I stepped on some of them.”
Soon after, her husband who was at the male dormitory, she recalled kicked open a door which allowed them to escape the inferno. It was until after she made it out of the building, she realized that her son did not make it.
Her husband, Steve Jerome who previously testified has stated that he heard noises emanating from the female quarters, like a “loud trample” and screams.
Upon checking, a blaze was bellowing from the bathroom door, and without hesitation, he grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed over. At the time, the house mother was trying to open the door from the inside.
He stated that he had kicked the door twice and the door flung open and although he armed himself with the fire extinguisher, it was useless.
After calling to the girls; about 16 of them ran out from the same door he had broken, along with the dorm mother.
At that point, the dorm mother handed over the keys and he forcibly opened another door on the opposite end of the building. He fell to the ground when the door flung open, and more girls ran out of the building.
As he tried to assist others, he heard his daughter calling and crawling out of the building. He also managed to pull her to safety.
However, his mind was affixed that his little son was still somewhere in the building, which was engulfed in flames. Little Adonijah was never seen nor heard.
“I was listening for my son’s voice and I didn’t hear anything. At that point, there was no sound or anything from my son,” he had told the CoI.
Those who died were Eulander Carter, Martha D’Andrade, Mary D’Andrade and Omefia Edwin of Chenapau; Belnisa Evans, Loreen Evans, Rita Bibi Jeffrey and Sabrina John of Karisparu; Natalie Bellarmine, Shorlin Bellarmine, Sherena Daniels, Arianna Edwards, Delicia Edwards, Adonijah Jerome, Andrea Roberts, Lisa Roberts, Nickoleen Robinson, Cleoma Simon, Tracil Thomas and Lorita Williams of Micobie.
Fourteen of them died at the scene of the fire, while six died at Mahdia District Hospital and one while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital. (G10)