THE charred remains of Hazel Johnson, 52, was removed from her two-storey rented home, after fire gutted it shortly after 20:30hrs on Wednesday night.
Relatives of the unemployed woman and other onlookers wailed at the sight of the corpse, without its limbs, as it was being removed by undertakers from Lot 30 Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Berbice. The missing body parts were retrieved by relatives yesterday morning, after they returned to the scene, combed the debris and took what they found, in a plastic bag, to Arokium Funeral Home, a short distance away.
The flames were first seen in the top flat of the building, which housed one of the two bedrooms occupied by Johnson. However, efforts to get a response from the woman, who was partly blind, proved futile and it was believed that she was not on the premises.
But, her nephew, Loiden Lyken, convinced that his aunt was trapped inside, together with another relative and a fireman gained access to the lower flat though prevented from gaining entry to the upper flat, because the door leading to the upward stairway was secured from within by a wooden bar.
The intensity of the heat and the rising smoke from the double walled building forced the trio to retreat even as neighbours broke windows and repeated called Johnson’s name.
Two fire tenders responded to the blaze but there was not sufficient water and a few feet from where a hydrant once stood only mud was in a nearby trench.
A third tender arrived and, aided by a pump, sourced water elsewhere but the pressure in the hose proved to be challenging for the youthful firefighters to control.
Meantime, as the conflagration spread to other sections of the house, which was divided in two, housing another tenant, Johnson’s sisters, Avril and Claudette, the former questioning loudly what did her sister do to deserve such a death and the other standing calmly, as tears flowed down her troubled face.
Another nephew, Gary Johnson, who supported the firefighters during their challenging venture, said, his aunt, a mother of two, had been a tenant in the house for about two years.

Visited
One of her sons Clairmont is overseas based and the other Chris, who works in the interior, had visited the woman five days before the tragedy.
The destroyed building was previously owned by Eileen King nee Benons, the deceased former owner of the now defunct Victoria Commercial School in Pilot Street, New Amsterdam.
Even as police combed the debris for clues, the other tenant, Jean Headley and her companion niece, La Toya Plass are grateful to be alive.
Headley, a member of Grace Temple Assembly of God Church, had gone to the place of worship for a Sunday School training workshop.
Whilst there, a relative, Claudia Mickle received a telephone call informing her of the tragic occurrence and after she related it to them, Headley and Plass proceeded to confirm their worst fears.
“When I saw the flames, I felt as though a weight came upon me,” Headley told the Guyana Chronicle, as the 20-year-old Plass clutched a few pieces of previously laundered clothing left on a line to dry.
“This is all I have now.” Plass lamented, with tears in her eyes. “We have nothing more than what is on our backs.”
Headley, a retired laundress at New Amsterdam Hospital, said while she slept at the church manse after the disaster, her future is uncertain as she does not have her own home.
She had applied for a house lot a few years ago but was denied because she is childless.           
The pensioner said she lost her National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pension which she had collected the same day, along with her rent and other monies.
“I lost everything. I am penniless,” she declared.
The only thing salvaged from Headley’s apartment unscathed was a Holy Bible.