Businessman perishes after being trapped in burning Windsor Forest house

Screams of anguish and disbelief rippled through the Windsor Forest community on Sunday afternoon, as the charred remains of a businessman was transported into a hearse.

Dead is Rajendra Mohabir, popularly known as “Slowie”.
He died after being trapped in a fire at his Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara (WCD) home that is suspected to have been started by an electrical fault.
The man’s family, who managed to escape the raging inferno, was in disbelief, that they were unable to even stand at the scene. They had to be immediately rushed to the hospital. These persons include the businessman’s two sons and wife.
Guyana Times was informed that the fire started around 14:00h at the Lot 194 7th Street Windsor Forest, WCD home. The two-storey concrete building housed a grocery store, and the Building Your Life Ministries International Church on the bottom flat while the top flat was the living quarters.

A neighbour told this publication that he was at home when he saw sparks coming from the two-storey building. At the time, there were persons in the church practicing. The neighbour further related that shortly after, he heard screams and saw persons running out of the church.
Meanwhile, a church member said that Mohabir’s son is the pastor of the church that is kept on the bottom flat of the building, and they were all preparing for their afternoon service when the area experienced low voltage followed by a power outage in the community.

Shortly after, the electricity was restored and they heard an explosion in the building, followed by flames.
As such, members of the congregation who were in the building began trying to save some of the items, but the fire spread quickly and they had to exit.
Another church member said they were told by the family that when the fire started, Mohabir was having a shower. His wife was also in the building at the time. They said that after realising the house was on fire, the businessman tried to get dressed and began running out of the building.
They said according to the man’s son [the pastor], Mohabir’s grandchild was visiting the family and he thought that the child was in the building and turned back to search for him. At that time, they said that the pastor managed to get his mother out of the building. However, when his father tried to exit the building, he was trapped. The son sustained burns on his body as a result. They said shortly after, sections of the building began collapsing.

The Guyana Fire Service was called to the scene and managed to extinguish the blaze. They spent hours rummaging through the debris to locate the missing man. His charred body was later found and taken to Dawn and Ezekiel’s funeral home.
GFS has since launched an investigation. (G9)