A 52-YEAR-OLD man perished in a midday blaze at his home at Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice on Thursday.

The charred remains of Benauth Baldeoram, also known as Vickie, were found in the ruins of his two storeyed wooden home minutes after the blaze of unknown origin had been put out by firemen. He lived alone.

He was also said to be visually-impaired, having lost the sight in one eye in an accident while working as a cane harvester with GUYSUCO, Blairmont Operations, some years ago.

Relatives said Baldeoram would frequently visit a daughter who lived some distance away from where he lived, so no one was sure that he was at home at the time.

“We heard no shouts for help or anything that would have alerted us that he was in the house and was in distress,” a distraught neighbor said.

Relatives were also mystified about the origins of the blaze since the house where Baldeoram lived was not served with electricity and he did not cook, since he received his meals from his son who lives next door. His son Bishal told Chronicle that he was at work around 10:50hrs yesterday when he heard about the fire and rushed home.

He was however forced to keep his distance from the burning house since the fire had engulfed the wooden building and there was not much he could do but look on. The remains are being kept at a funeral home awaiting a post mortem examination. The West Berbice Police were up to late yesterday afternoon investigating the tragedy.