Passengers who use water taxis were on Tuesday evening scared to enter speedboats, as a nearby vessel went up in flames at about 19:00h at the Georgetown stelling.
The boat on fire in the Demerara River
Fire Prevention Officer Andrew Holder of the Guyana Fire Service told this publication that the vessel, Princess Sasha K, which was preparing to transport items to the interior, was docked with firecrackers onboard. This caught the attention of a crew member, who decided to light the flares which led to the fire.
“The boat fire occurred according to my information as a result of someone who fired off a flare and the flare accidentally fell on a mattress and it ignited the mattress and from there after it spread to most of the cabin,” he explained.
The officer assured that no one was injured during the incident. On Wednesday, Guyana Times spoke with a few speedboat operators at the Georgetown Stelling who witnessed the incident and said they lent assistance to the crew of the boat.
Captain Andy (only name given) told this newspaper that he was heading to the Vreed-en-Hoop stelling when he noticed the blaze. “When we go we didn’t really see nobody and the fire reel take a while fuh come before they start operate,” Andy said.
At that point, he recalled, the crew members were already taken to safety.
