HANOMAN Singh, 57, passed away in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Sunday afternoon, two days after his house was destroyed by fire.

Reshma Singh, a relative, told the Guyana Chronicle that since the elder Singh arrived on the scene of the fire, he was unable to speak after seeing his house up in flames and rode off on his bicycle.

He was found in an unconscious condition at the Botanical Gardens on Saturday morning and was transported by ambulance to the GPHC, where he was hooked up on a life-support machine until he succumbed to what medical professionals said was a cardiac arrest.

The relative said the businessman was not known to suffer from any heart ailments prior to his death. He, however, had a breathing problem and often complained about knee pains.

Singh related that the man was apparently distressed about losing his worldly possessions and took ill and never regained consciousness.
She added that the family is desperately trying to cope and following the fire they were slept in a bus until neighbours gave them a mattress which they used to sleep in their yard.

According to her, arrangements are being made to host a wake and a funeral will be held later.

The family of five were rendered homeless when fire, believed to be electrical in origin, destroyed their concrete two-storey house at Lot 360 Block 12 Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara, on Friday night.

Singh, speaking to the Guyana Chronicle on behalf of the displaced family, said no one was at home when the conflagration started. She related that the family was at their business place at Lot 100 Gandhi Street, Enterprise, also on the East Coast Demerara, when they received a telephone call from a neighbour stating that their house was on fire.

It was before 09:00hrs and by the time the home owners arrived on scene the building was engulfed in raging flames, as such they could have done nothing but look on as millions of dollars of their worth turned to ashes.

Singh said that shortly before the blaze the area had experienced a power outage and it was when the village was re-powered that neighbours saw “fire” running from the electrical wire to the house. The fire which reportedly started from the upper flat quickly ripped through the entire edifice.

The house in which the family of five had been residing for the past 23 years was renovated about three years ago. The lower flat housed a fully-stocked shop which was expected to be opened soon, as the family had recently acquired a licence for the business.

The family are unsure as to their next move since they did not get to save anything from the building and are left with just the clothes on their backs.