Mahdia Fire CoI:“All I wanted was my son” – dorm father cries as he recounts events of deadly fire

– says he pulled crawling daughter, other students out of burning building

By Rupa Seenaraine

On May 21, the Mahdia Secondary School’s dormitory went up in flames and took the lives of 20 children, and on Friday, the dorm father recounted the moment he heard screams to rushing to the rescue of those who were trapped in the inferno.
Fighting tears, Steve Jerome took the stand as public hearings commenced before the Commission of Inquiry into the Mahdia tragedy in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), which claimed the lives of 19 girls and his five-year-old son, Adonijah Jerome.

Saving the lives of many girls who were confined by the grille and locked doors, the man recounted that he kept listening for his son’s voice – a sound that he never heard.
Under the guidance of Counsel to the Commission, Keoma Griffith, Jerome walked through the events leading up to and after the fire. Hailing from Micobie, he has been employed as the dormitory warden or dorm father at Mahdia Secondary boys’ dormitory since 2018.
Both dormitory buildings were located in the same compound. The male dormitory included five living quarters in the concrete one-flat building; the girl’s dormitory followed an almost identical layout.
Young Jerome attended Mahdia Nursery School and lived with his sister and mother at the school’s girls’ dormitory.
On that Sunday evening, the dorm father recalled that by 21:00h, the boys were in bed but went to sleep at about 23:00h. Minutes later, a noise was heard 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.
“They were mainly screaming while some of them were calling for the house supervisor…When I looked, I saw the fire coming from under the door next to the bathroom area…I got really worried and run down to the middle of the building where the double door is…I kicked the door twice and the door flung open. I ran in with the fire extinguisher and try to get between the smoke…but at that time, it was useless. When the doors open, there was no students. The passageway was clear and there was smoke all over the place.”
After calling to the girls; about 16 of them ran out from the same door he had broken, along with the dorm mother.
The Commission was told that the dorm mother handed over the keys and he forcibly opened another door on the opposite end of the building. Jerome fell to the ground when the door flung open, and more girls ran out of the building. Some who could not see were praying that they would be rescued.
“As I was on the ground, I could only see about 24 inches because there was smoke. I saw two females lying on the ground. I pulled them out…There was lots of heat and smoke. It was very dark and had a very terrible scent. It smelled very bad. There was a girl walking and praying saying ‘God, help me’ and I pushed her out of the building. I could hear the girls but couldn’t see them.”
By then, his daughter was 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. I removed from the door and began to cry and scream because all I wanted was my son,” the emotional father shared.
During the ordeal, there was a grille preventing one of the girls from coming out of the building. By then, persons on site managed to break a wall and rescue other victims.
“At that time, neighbouring persons came and hit the grille to break it. It broke and one of the guys got in with half his body and began pulling girls out of the windows. The only girl that was conscious was the one I was talking to. The rest of the girls came out unconscious…They wanted to put her on the ground but I told them no, that put them in the dining hall.”
The Guyana Fire Service arrived but after a few minutes, they left the scene due to water shortage. Police officers and an ambulance were on the scene, and those who were rescued were transported to the hospital.
In the absence of the water tender, villagers formed a bucket brigade with the aim of putting out the blaze. The male dorm warden was with the Police, and noted, “At the time, I asked to see my son because I knew at that time, he wasn’t alive anymore.”

Medevac
Also presenting his testimony before the CoI was the Chief Pilot at Air Services Limited, Mohamed Yacoob Mazaharally Ally, who conducted medical evacuations that night.
On the night of the fire, he was the stationed at ASL facility at Mahdia airstrip, where personnel informed him that the GDF was rounding up pilots from the airstrip to respond to the tragedy.
“A GDF officer was on the phone and trying to get a night medevac, that there was a big fire and they wanted us to get the medevac out. I told him that the type of aircraft is a single engine and a single crew, which is not suited for night medevac operations…There is a high risk involved,” Ally recalled.
The pilot said in his career, he had never done a night evacuation with a single crew and that it required special permission from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
“On the phone call, the GDF personnel said the President is requesting the night medevac. Lieutenant Colonel Mike Charles said he got special permission from the President…I said once it is granted, we will be on standby to help since it is of national importance.”
It was just after midnight when ASL staffers arrived at the hangar, configuring the aircraft for the evacuation. Mohamed said the airstrip was “uncontrollable” with people.
A Roraima Aircraft landed with Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn – who assisted with loading the ASL aircraft.
He told the CoI, “I finished my safety briefing. The injured was screaming for their parents. One nurse was trying to resuscitate a student…I could smell burnt flesh. It was dark so I couldn’t see.”
At 3:15h that morning, Mohamed was cleared for take-off for Ogle International Airport and landed at 4:15h.
“We were told after landing to head to the Roraima hangar. As soon as I land and shut the aircraft down, the President was first to come. We went to offload the students and the nurse was still trying to resuscitate the girls,” Ally said.

Assistance
On May 26, Steve Jerome travelled to Georgetown with his son’s remains until he was buried five days later at the Le Repentir Cemetery. All of the girls were taken back to their respective villages for burial, that is, Chenapau, Karisparu and Micobie.
Jerome told the Commission that the Government took care of all funeral expenses, including accommodation and meals for relatives when they were in the city.
When asked if they continue to receive assistance from the Government, he said they only received a cash lump sum.
The dorm father, when grilled, stated that during his time of employment at the facility, no inspections of the building were done by the Education Ministry or Local Government Ministry.
The only inspections that were done were for renovations by the Regional Democratic Council. Employees were also not trained for fire response prior to the fire.
He noted that grilles were placed on the dorms to prevent girls from escaping while also adding that there was no 24-hour water service to the facility.