Police have not yet ruled out arson in the Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, Sunday morning fire which claimed the life of a 57-year-old woman and left six others homeless.
The aftermath of the Mon Repos, ECD fire
Divisional Commander of C Division, Calvin Brutus told Guyana Times on Monday that they have received information that someone was responsible for causing the fire.
It was related that the person would have had a disagreement with family members some time ago, and as such, Police acted on this information. While no evidence was provided, Police are in pursuit of the man who is yet to be detained for questioning.
“It is alleged without any proof that somebody may have caused the fire. They gave a name of someone who had a disagreement with a family member some weeks ago. The police checked for him but he wasn’t there at the time and they are to go back and look for him. What I understand is that he was close to the family and there were some disagreement among them,” said the Commander.
This publication visited the area on Monday and neighbours relayed a different tale of the family and the now dead woman, Yowani Sasenarine.
A neighbour alleged that Sasenarine was reportedly neglected by her family.
The woman related that on many occasions, strangers would be imbibing and using illegal drugs on the property, but the woman was unable to say anything while neighbours objected.
At present, the fire victims were rescued by family and friends who have also been making funeral arrangements for the dead woman.
“The lady get a stroke and she can’t do anything. My heart goes out because all kind of people they used to get there drinking and smoking and playing music late till the next morning. They never used to take good care of the lady,” one neighbour alleged.
The top flat of the Lot 564 Block 8 Mon Repos house was reportedly occupied by the now dead woman and a daughter while the bottom flat was occupied by another daughter and her husband, along with their three children.
At the scene, the woman’s son-in-law Joseph Pereira said he was awoken by the screams from the deceased at about 02:10h and upon checking, he saw the entire upper flat of the house engulfed in flames.
He said he attempted to extinguish the fire to save his mother-in-law but failed. He also said that he was the last to see his mother-in-law since he made sure that she was in bed.
While neighbours recalled hearing the screams, most of them said that by the time they ran outside, the fire had already swept through the entire house.
Nevertheless, they alerted the police and the fire service. However, they complained that the fire service responded too late and could not have done anything to save the house from burning.
