-at Dazell Housing Scheme
TWO brothers, five and four years old Julius and Josiah, perished in an early morning fire yesterday, plunging their family into a deep state of mourning at the tragic loss. The blaze, of yet unknown origin, started just after 06:00hrs in 18th Street Dazell Housing Scheme, on the East Coast Demerara.
Mother of the deceased, 26-year-old Ashana Necklow managed to rescue her youngest son, two-year-old Joshua, before the flames consumed their house and his siblings.
The burnt bodies of the boys were found huddled together with one of the older boy’s hand over his brother.
The boys’ father, 28-year-old Vivian Declou alias ‘Buck Man’, who is a cane cutter, had left for work earlier.
The dead children’s grandmother, Yvette Seales told the Guyana Chronicle the autopsies on the corpses are set for today.
“Once we get through with the post mortem examinations, we hope to have the funeral on Friday,” she said.
Friends of the children’s parents, who were on the scene when this newspaper arrived, were distraught, some crying. One of them, Allison (only name stated) revealed that one other four-year-old son of the family died of pneumonia a few years ago.
“They are a nice family. They are good people who work hard and the children were very mannerly,” she said.
According to her, Declou, apart from being a cane cutter, picks coconuts elsewhere and sell them in Dazell Village. “He was a hustler who tried his best for his family,” Allison stated.
As Police questioned Necklow about the disaster, Allison was very vocal in her disapproval.
“She was in no state to talk to anyone and I had to say something. Then they let her go to her mother’s house,” Allison remarked.
She and other residents in the area were also critical of the response by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS).
Reports were that the conflagration was caused by a lighted stove but, up to press time, no confirmation could be obtained from the GFS and investigations are continuing.