Recently discovered oil is transforming Guyana's fortunes. But neighbouring Venezuela has suddenly rekindled old claims of territorial ownership. Official Venezuelan maps now incorporate the disputed Essequibo region that covers two-thirds of Guyana, and Venezuelan oil companies have been ordered to start extraction.

A non-binding referendum in Venezuela has shown overwhelming support for the government's claims to Essequibo, a large swathe of land controlled by neighbouring Guyana. The land dispute between the two countries is over a century old, but heated up back in 2015 with the discovery of oil fields off the coast of Essequibo.

Venezuela's government pressed ahead with the non-binding referendum despite the UN's top court urging restraint in a territorial dispute with neighboring Guyana.

Guyana's president, Irfaan Ali, said the incident was a "horrible disaster." Authorities have begun evacuating the victims to the two main hospitals in the capital.