ALEXANDRIA, St Ann – Prime Minister Bruce Golding yesterday ordered the closure of the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre in this parish after a fire killed five wards of the state, injured 11 others and destroyed a dormitory at the all-girl facility Friday night.

At the same time, the prime minister has appointed retired high court judge and former president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Paul Harrison to conduct an inquiry into the tragedy that took the lives of Ann-Marie Samuels, Nerrissa Gooden and Rachel King, all 17 years old; and Kaychell Nelson and Shauna-Lee Kerr, both 15 years old.

“What happened here last night (Friday night) was a terrible tragedy, five of the girls here perished, a number of others injured, three of them quite seriously,” Golding said following a tour of the centre early yesterday morning. “We have made contact with the families of those who died, we are doing everything possible to provide them with comfort and consolation.”

He described the centre as unsafe and said that the remaining girls should not be allowed to continue living under the present condition.

“This facility will have to be closed,” said the prime minister. “I have spoken with the acting commissioner of corrections… we are identifying alternative locations where we hope to be able to move them very quickly, and we are hoping that within a very short period of time we will be able to have them relocated.”

Yesterday, National Security Minister Dwight Nelson, who visited the centre with Golding and Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin, said that following discussions with the Ministry of Education, the remaining 45 wards will be moved to the Tranquillity Bay facility in St Elizabeth. Until then, however, they will be temporarily relocated to the Stony Hill Heart Academy in St Andrew.

Describing the tragedy as “unfortunate beyond description” Nelson extended condolences and sympathy to the families and loved ones of the victims and said that his ministry, which has overall responsibility for juvenile correctional facilities, “stands ready to assist in anyway that is deemed necessary”.

Nelson also welcomed the prime minister’s decision to set up a commission of inquiry into the fire which the Government expects will determine the full extent of the incident, the condition that existed at the centre and how it could be addressed.

“The facilities here are clearly not adequate, and it is possible that that might have contributed, to some extent, to the tragedy, but given the severity of the tragedy and given the casualty that we have suffered – five of our girls having died – it is something that warrants investigation at the highest level,” Golding said.

Both Golding and Nelson said that the Government would assist with the funerals of the girls.

According to the police, about 8:00 pm Friday they were called to quell the rowdy behaviour of some of the girls, but stones and other missiles were hurled at cops who responded to the call.

The police said that while they were trying to restore order, they discovered that a section of the dorm, which housed 23 girls, was on fire. The fire spread quickly, engulfing the entire building and trapping the girls inside.

Police said they were able to rescue some of the girls through a rear window. However, after firefighters put the blaze out the bodies of the five girls were found among the rubble. The injured girls were rushed to the St Ann’s Bay Hospital for treatment. Three have since been transferred to the Kingston Public Hospital.

Neither firefighters nor Armadale officials have said how the fire started, even as it was alleged that the blaze was triggered by the lighting of a mattress by one of the girls who was misbehaving.

It was also alleged that when smoke was seen coming from the building, security officials assigned to the centre could not immediately find the key to open the door.

News of the tragedy brought Pudence Doeman, mother of Shauna-Lee Kerr, to the centre early yesterday morning. The visibly shaken woman, who travelled more than 111 kilometres from Hanover, clenched two photos of her daughter who was placed at the centre just over a month ago.

“A carelessness mek mi pickney dead, straight negligence and everybody a hush, hush. Mi want to know what happen to her,” Doeman demanded. “What dem a tell me don’t mek sense, but mi just listen ’cause she gone already. Mi think she woulda safe, that’s why me mek her come here, ’cause she wasn’t behaving herself. Betta mi did mek her stay pon di road and give trouble.”

Another mother, who claimed her daughter was the first to make it out of the burning building, said she would be seeking legal advice on how she could get back her uncontrollable daughter from the Government.

“Five of them from one dorm, it is sad, I am upset, and Monday morning I will be going to the Children’s Advocate and Probation Officer for my daughter because she and the other girls are not safe and I want her back alive, not dead,” the mother, who did not want to be identified, told the Sunday Observer.

Other relatives of the wards wept uncontrollably when security personnel at the gate failed to provide information on the status of their loved ones. One woman threatened to break down the gate if she could not see or hear from her child. Shortly after, the child was taken to a window, much to the delight of the mother.

Within the last year, the wards have been involved in at least three incidents. Eleven of the girls reportedly escaped from the centre last year to attend a dance in a nearby community. They were also involved in another incident which led to some of them being transferred to the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre in St Catherine.

In February this year, the juveniles became unruly, injured several warders at Fort Augusta and doused others with excrement during a riot.

“They are an unruly, ill-mannered bunch of girls and we do not want them to deal with anymore,” one warder told the Observer at the time.