FIREFIGHTERS early yesterday morning removed the charred remains of Theresa Rozario, 12 years, and her sister Clarissa Rozario, 14 years, of 65 Robb and King Streets, Georgetown, after their home was destroyed by an early morning fire.

Their father Randolph Thomas, 63 years, is hospitalised with burns about the body.

The fire service was called to the scene of the fire by commercial sex workers who observed fire coming from the building early yesterday morning.
However, due to the derelict state of the wooden building, the entire structure was gutted while the two children from the St. John’s College and Guyana Trust College remained trapped inside, while their father jumped to safety.
The property at the junction of Robb and King Streets has long been a source of contention between the now hospitalised man, and another gentleman whose name was given as ‘Buddy’.
In the 2010 fire, the man called ‘Buddy’ was considered a suspect and he is also being fingered in yesterday’s tragedy that claimed the lives of the two children.
Persons said that after the fire 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 persons were unable to enter the building to attempt a rescue.
Meanwhile, the children’s screams were reportedly drowned out by the crackling sounds of firewood and shattering glass as the building was being gutted.
When firefighters were finally able to put the blaze out and they ventured into the building they discovered the remains of the children, which were removed to a city funeral home to await a post-mortem.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday morning, mother of the children Rosemary Rozario said that the man did threaten to burn the building down with Randolph Thomas and his children inside. Asked if the threat was ever reported to the police, she said that she was not certain since she and the father of her children were not communicating with each other. Moreover, the children were kept away from her by the man and his relatives.

The grieving mother told this newspaper that she was at home when she got the call about the fire from her eldest son. The woman said that she hurriedly left her Guyhoc Park home and rushed down to the scene where she saw the fire engines battling to put the blaze out.
The woman said she knew that her children were trapped in the building since she did not see them or their father when she arrived on the scene.
The police and fire service are continuing their investigations into the cause of the fire. Rosemary Rozario has four other children, ages 22, 19, 18 and 17.

Meanwhile, during a visit to the schools the girls had attended, very positive reviews were given about them. The directors and teachers of the Guyana Trust College said that the younger of the two girls was an ‘A’ student who got along well with the other children.
Yesterday the children wrote individual letters to send to the mother and relatives of the young girl expressing their sympathies and commenting on what a pleasant person she was.
Over at St. John’s College, the reviews of the older girl were also positive and the teachers there said that the child was one who was always keen on learning and would also ask questions.
In 2010, the same two children along with an older sister and their father who is now hospitalised were rescued by firefighters from the same building after it mysteriously caught fire.

(By Leroy Smith)