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The Guyana Chronicle spoke with a young man who claimed he was downstairs with his two cousins, aged 8 and 2, on Friday afternoon when he heard a loud noise coming thrice from the upper flat of the home. He rushed upstairs because he thought someone had intruded the home, but when he reached upstairs, he realized that there was no one upstairs. However, fire was evident in the front and middle rooms of the house.
Based on what he had seen, he opined that the fire may have started in the front room, since the wall of that room was extensively damaged when he reached upstairs.
The lad said he peered into the middle room and realized that the fire was concentrated in an area with some clothing. He then rushed downstairs and took his two cousins out of the building before trying to put out the blaze; but the smoke and heat became unbearable, and he exited the building, calling for the workmen who were in another building on the same premises to come and help him.
The lad said the workmen tried to battle the blaze, but were unable to do so because the ceiling of the building was caving in, so they grabbed a few items and exited the building.
The workmen worked in the Gangadeens’ furniture store located in the same compound as the burning building, and which would usually supply two major home furnishing stores with household furniture.
According to the lad, no adult was at home when the fire started, since they were out shopping. He said that when he described to the adults what he heard when he went downstairs, he was told that the noise could have resulted from a wire sparking and causing fire to ignite. Asked if any appliance had been plugged into the wall or left unattended in any room, the young man said he could not say.
The Gangadeens became popular in 2010 when a male relative was placed before the court for the alleged murder of his wife, who had mysteriously ended up under the wheel of a canter truck which he was driving.
Just under a month ago, that man was freed of the charges after the Director of Public Prosecution determined that there was insufficient evidence to charge the man with murder.
Friday’s fire is said to have caused the family millions in losses at both the home and factory.
As word of the fire spread, rumors surfaced that someone had been trapped in the building and burnt to death. This proved to be false.
Many persons gathered on Friday to gape at the conflagration and advance various theories on the origin of the fire. Some were of the view that the supernatural had been involved. They likened the fire to the mysterious demise of 30-year-old Bridgette Gangadeen, whose body had been discovered in front of the Vigilance Police Station on May 02, 2010 with her head crushed.
Her husband was eventually charged with murder.
The unfolding investigations into the woman’s death had riveted the nation’s interest, even as it caused the two families involved, who live just a few yards apart, to develop issues with each other.
