TWO Venezuelan women lost their lives in an early morning blaze that engulfed the second floor of their Fifth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown apartment complex on Thursday.
The two women, whose bodies were found by firefighters, have been identified as 25-year-old Maria Lina Texidor and 44-year-old, Maria Patino Benjamin.
Persons at the scene told reporters that when firefighters arrived at the scene, there was “extreme difficulty” to get access to the building.
“On arrival, it was observed that the first floor of the two-storey building was engulfed; immediately firefighter mode was put into operation but it was difficult for firefighters to get access to

the building because the entire building was grilled. We had to break the doors and there were two doors: the grill door and the wood door, we had to get access to it and as the firefighters entered the building that is where they discovered one of the bodies that was laying on the bed and the other one was at the back of the building,” acting Fire Chief, Kalamadeen Edoo related.

Meanwhile, the fire chief noted that a third individual, who was suspected to have been trapped in the building, managed to escape from the building unharmed.
The Guyana Fire Service, in a release, said it received a call at 08:46 hours, alerting them of a house at Fifth Street, Albertown on fire.
“Water tenders #102 from the Alberttown Fire Station, #100 and #105 from the Central Fire Station along with an Ambulance and Emergency Medical Technicians were immediately dispatched to the location. Hydrants in the vicinity were serviceable but an adjacent open source of water was used to extinguish the fire,” the fire service said.
It also noted that once the fire was extinguished, it was discovered that the two women had been trapped inside the heavily grilled building and tragically died as a result.
The top floor of the building was severely damaged while the ground floor suffered water damage, leaving a total of 13 persons homeless.
Investigations into the cause of the fire are currently ongoing.