An early morning fire has devastated a Main Street, Georgetown building located next door to the Prime Minister’s residence and left dead a 77-year-old businessman who reportedly was trapped in the burning building.
Yusuf Sankar of Lot 51 Main Street, Georgetown, owner of Rizan’s Instant Photography and Gift Centre and Jarrod’s Graphic Document and Copy Centre, perished in that fire, which broke out on the three-storey wooden and concrete building at about 05:45h.
The building that was distroyed by the fire
Reports are that the now dead man was alerted about the fire by his caretaker of 35 years, when members of the PM’s security team came pounding on his door screaming, “Fire! Fire!” However, when the caretaker, whose only name was given as ‘Claire’, ran downstairs to inform the security personnel that Sankar was still in his bedroom, it was too late, as the smoke had already thickened inside the property.
The now dead man, said to be recuperating from a recent surgery, was unable to assist himself.
The Guyana Times understands that the fire, suspected to be electrical in origin, started at the back of the building, on the top floor, where the bedroom of the deceased was located.
The dead man’s sons, Riyhad and Shane Sankar, were reportedly on their way to drop off another brother, Jarrod Sankar, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) when they received a telephone call informing them that the home they shared with their father and two others was on fire.
The distraught sons immediately made an about turn and went back home, but by the time they reached there, the back section of the house, which their father occupied, was in flames.
Riyhad Sankar rushed to get his father out of the burning building, but it proved futile, since the heat was too intense. Attempts to remove vehicles from the yard also proved futile.
“When I get here, at around 05: 30hrs, no one was here as yet, but I couldn’t go in to do anything, because there was too much smoke. Then I found out that my dad was left inside, that he was trapped in his room trying to get out,” Riyhad explained.
The fire fighters were summoned to the scene, and with assistance from the rain, managed to battle the blaze, but only to an extent.
Attempts made to speak with the caretaker Claire proved futile, as the woman was too shocked and distraught.
Grief stricken family members were also too distraught to speak to the media as undertakers removed the charred remains of Sankar from what was left of the building.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, however, spoke to media operatives and revealed that his security team informed him that steel grills on the property had prevented them from rescuing Sankar.
He explained that the fire also spread very quickly, as the building is very old. “The first thing that I thought of doing was to get out all of the fire hydrants, buckets and bowls, and told the ranks in the yard to throw (water) on my house because it is also old as well,” Nagamootoo explained.
He applauded the Guyana Fire Service’s quick response to the call, noting that their efforts caused the bottom flat of the property to be saved.
Fire and Police officials have launched an investigation to determine what caused this historic building to go up in flames.
