…Part owner claims $45M in losses

A FIRE suspected to be electrical in origin Tuesday destroyed the popular District Ultra Lounge nightclub at the Giftland Mall at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara.
The nightclub was housed inside ‘The Strip’; proprietor of the mall, Roy Beepat, told reporters that the fire started sometime around 13:25hrs.

Shoppers and staff members were asked to evacuate the mall. Several persons who were in the mall at the time recalled the scene as “confusing,” stating that they had never had such an experience there. They stated however that staff of the mall alerted them to what was happening and escorted them to the exits.

Proprietor of the mall, Roy Beepat, briefed members of the media on the situation, stating that after the flames were observed, alarms were raised and teams grabbed fire-fighting equipment and responded immediately.

“Everything was back to normal In record time; our team responded very quickly [after] the fire alarms went off and we put the fire out in record time; so what happened is that we had a lot of smoke damage and that’s what caused the continuation of the problem,” said Beepat.

The fire started in the District Lounge and it would appear that no one was inside there, so it would seem that there was an electrical problem of sorts.

Beepat stated that the mall is equipped with fire hoses , fire escapes, fire alarms and very alert and well trained security staff. He also stated that the mall carries out regular fire drills so in events such as this, the place is evacuated quickly; additionally, the gas and power are turned off immediately by the power plant technicians.

Several fire tenders responded to the scene and Beepat said the firemen opened the roof of the building to ensure that the smoke escaped .

Part owner of the District Ultra Lounge, Sean Major, told reporters that he was at home when he received a call and when he arrived at the scene, he was shocked at the damage done to the hangout spot. He said nothing much could have been salvaged.

Major said, “We were actually closed at the time the fire started, we are closed Mondays to Wednesdays every week . Last night we hosted our staff party here with the staff from our other businesses which we host here annually. I don’t want to make any speculations about what happened, we don’t know what happened; I was home and I got a call saying that the inside is on fire. I didn’t know to what extent or what magnitude but I came down as soon as I could and I was in total shock.”

Major stated that losses include , lighting and sound systems, furniture, freezers, fridges, kitchen equipment, décor and drinking glasses; he estimated total losses at $45M .
He explained that the business was not insured and stated that at this point he has to discuss with his business partner as well as the proprietor and management of the Giftland Mall a way forward as it relates to that business. He however stated that the other business owned by him, “Level,” which is also housed at the Giftland Mall, will continue to operate as per normal.