HOURS after he was rescued from a burning building, at Sproston’s  Alley, New Amsterdam, Berbice, Keon Grant succumbed, around 10:00 hours, on Wednesday, likely from smoke inhalation.

His mother, Joycelyn Daniels, confirmed the death of her bedridden son, who was afflicted by an unknown condition which rendered him immobile for several months.

On Tuesday, just before 18:00hrs, a fire of unknown origin damaged the lower flat of a two-storied wooden building Grant’s family occupies. The other occupants of the building, Shelly Jaffarally and family were not at home at the time.

Daniels lived on the upper flat of the house with her son Keon; daughter, Kimberly and great niece, Tory.

She recalled having a meal when she heard a loud explosion. On looking outside, she saw garbage was on fire and thought that the explosion came from the garbage heap.

However, after realising that something was amiss as the heat was becoming unbearable, she ran downstairs to grab buckets of water while alerting neighbours.

A neighbour, Godwin Melville, responded by running to the upper flat and rescuing Keon, who was lying in his bed. He was taken to a neighbour’s house.

The Guyana Fire Service responded promptly and managed to control the blaze. There was no external damage except for broken windows.

Hours after the fire, Keon Grant started to experience severe respiratory challenges. Subsequently, he was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where doctors confirmed his death.