Girl, 15, charged as adult with 19 counts of murder in Guyana school fire

The dormitory of a secondary school following the fire (Guyana’s Department of Public Information via AP/PA)

A teenage student who police in Guyana accuse of deliberately setting a fire in a girls’ dormitory that killed 18 schoolmates and a five-year-old boy was charged on Monday as an adult with 19 counts of murder.

The girl, 15, appeared virtually at the hearing in a court south of the capital, Georgetown, and was ordered to be held in custody pending further court proceedings.