A FAMILY is mourning the loss of their eldest daughter who died in an early morning fire at the family’s Lot 8 Public Road, Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara, Georgetown, home on Friday. The deceased woman has been identified as Krystle Chung, 26.
According to reports reaching this newspaper, the young woman was trapped in her bedroom and was unable to escape the house before the home was completely engulfed in flames; her parents and sister, who were at home when the fire erupted made several attempts to get her out but they were unsuccessful.

One of the woman’s neighbours, Voila Patterson, recalled what had occurred. She stated that she was not at home when the fire started but received a phone call at around 05:30 hours alerting her about the blaze. She stated that initially, she had heard that her home was on fire and later received clarification that it was the Chung’s house that was being ravaged.
Patterson further stated that according to her cousin, who was at the scene, the residents of the home were made aware of the fire by garbage men who saw the smoke and raised an alarm.
“She said they were jogging coming from Diamond and they saw the smoke… and then they saw the garbage men run over the road and they pelt a rock into the window to alert the family and then they started running and knocking on the doors and windows and so on to make sure that everybody woke up and so on,” said Patterson.

She further stated that upon her arrival, the fire had already ravaged the home, leaving the family with not just financial losses but with the loss of their eldest child, Krystle.
The Chung family, who owns the building, resided at the top flat of the house and had two apartments that were occupied at the bottom flat.
One of the occupants of the bottom flat, who asked not to be named, stated that he and his family were not at home at the time the fire started.
He said that as a father, he mourns with the parents of Krystle.
“We lost yes, but right it’s all things we could get back. Right now the only thing on our mind is the loss of Krystle.”
The Guyana Fire Service has launched an investigation to ascertain the cause of the blaze.