THERESA Rozario, 12, and her sister Clarissa Rozario, 14, died from burns about their bodies and suffocation, according to post-mortems which were performed on the bodies Wednesday morning.

The two sisters were trapped in their home at lot 65 Robb and King Streets in Georgetown, while their father Randolph Thomas, 63, remains hospitalised and is being treated for burns. The home the three shared was reportedly set alight by arsonists, who were allegedly working at the behest of a man with whom Thomas is reported to have a dispute over the said property.
Yesterday an eyewitness reportedly told the police that the two men whom they arrested for the crime were not the same persons who were seen setting fire to the building on Monday night; and according to the eyewitness, the men who committed the act can be easily identified once they are spotted again.
The two who were arrested were placed on an identification parade by the police and several persons came forward to confirm to the police if they indeed had the right persons for the crime. The witness spoke with this newspaper immediately after confirming to the police that the men they arrested were not the culprits.
According to the eyewitness, on Monday morning a black IST motorcar was circling the area between Avenue of the Republic and Wellington Street and Regent Street and North Road. The eyewitness who requested anonymity, related that after circling the area, the vehicle stopped and two young men exited the vehicle.
It was reported that the men approached the building, opened the grill work that was securing the wooden door, kicked the door open and made their way into the building where they set a fire that eventually failed to ignite.
Now being aware that the fire was out, the men then exited the building and made their way along Robb Street, where they were picked up in the vicinity of Wellington Street by the vehicle they had arrived in, as it turned north into Wellington Street onto North Road.
The men according to the eyewitness continued circling the area and when it had been confirmed that the building was not on fire, they returned to the location but this time parked on Regent Street. One of the men then approached the building with a bottle in his hand while the other stood close to a mobile fish outlet.
Again the grill work was opened and the wooden door again kicked open,as the man entered the building and was successful in having the fire lit this time; they quickly exited the building and again locked back the building and made their way south along King Street where they were pursued by some commercial sex workers.
The men however turned east onto Regent Street and rejoined the black car which made its way south into Wellington Street and onto South Road where they managed to escape.
The fire service was summoned but by then the wooden building was quickly engulfed in flames, even as the girls’ father in the building jumped to safety, leaving his two daughters trapped inside the building. They were eventually burnt to death and their charred remains removed by firefighters and undertakers.
In 2010 the same two children along with an older sister and their father were rescued from the same building after it had mysteriously caught afire, but was saved when the fire service responded in a timely manner.
Reportedly,the property has long been a source of contention between the now hospitalised man and another gentleman whose name was given as “Buddy.” In 2010, fingers were pointed at “Buddy” for the fire to the building and the same is the case with the fire that claimed the lives of the two children.
Persons said that after the fire had started and the man jumped to safety, he informed persons that his daughters were trapped inside the building but because of the heat, smoke and falling debris, they were unable to enter the building to rescue the children. Their screams were reportedly drowned out by the cracklng sounds of firewood and shattering glass as the building was being gutted.

(By Leroy Smith )