SEAN Prince, 39, of Lot 67 Sideline Dam, Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara perished after fire consumed his home on Thursday.

The father of one shared the 35x 40 gutted two-storey wooden and concrete building with his cousin Devon Prince. His cousin, who lived in the lower flat was taken into police custody as investigator suspect foul play.

Reports indicate that the fire of unknown origin started at 01:10hrs Thursday morning in the upper flat where Sean Prince lived.

Sean used to work with his father’s shipping company and was described by friends as an exceptional and kind person.

“A son of the soil, he was sincere, he was somebody everyone would wish to have as their friend, he always wanted to make people happy,” one of his friends at a nearby shop in the area said.

At the shop, friends praised Sean, noting that altough his work shedule is frantic, he socialised with them on Wednesday.

His friends also said the fire seems msyterious since Sean left the shop sober enough to ride his bicycle home.

“This man was not drunk, he is not the type of person to make mistakes with fire and the fire doesn’t look electrical in origin and from what we are hearing something went wrong that resulted in his death,” one exewitness said as he called on police to conduct a through investigation.

Residents said they heard what sounded like a scuffle, followed by a loud explosion before noticing the building on fire.