Around 20 people have died and more are severely injured after a "major" fire ripped through a secondary school.
The fire broke out just after midnight on Monday in a central Guyana mining town, engulfing a female dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary School and trapping students in Guyana, South America.
Many more people are feared to still be inside.
"This is a major disaster. It is horrible, it is painful," the South American nation's President Irfaan Ali said Sunday night.
Gordon Moseley, Chief News Editor-News Source Guyana, wrote on Facebook: "It is with great sadness that we bring to you a heart-wrenching update on the fire.
"We have lost many beautiful souls in that fire. The death toll currently stands at 20, while several others received injuries."
Emergency services are struggling to contain the fire because of bad weather conditions, the government announced in a statement on Sunday night.
Ali said he ordered that arrangements be made in the two major hospitals in Guyana's capital of Georgetown "so that every single child who requires attention be given the best possible opportunity to get that attention."
Moseley said the Prime Minister is leading a team of officials to Madhia while the Minister of Home Affairs, Brindley Robeson Benn, is already on the ground supporting victims' families.
"This is a major disaster. It is horrible, it is painful," said Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.
"It is with heavy heart and pain that the Cabinet is being briefed and kept updated on a horrific fire at the dormitory in Mahdia. All efforts are being made to have a full-scale medical evacuation-supported response," the government's Department of Public Information said in a statement.
Natasha Singh-Lewis, an opposition member of Parliament, called for an investigation into the fire's cause.
"We need to understand how this most horrific and deadly incident occurred and take all necessary measures to prevent such a tragedy from happening again," she said.
Guyana is located between Venezuela and Suriname on the northern coast of South America.
