…as Foulis woman succumbs to injuries two weeks later
Basmattie Ganpat, 55, who suffered severe burns in a gas explosion at her Foulis, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home on January 4, passed away Sunday morning at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Ganpat, who sustained burns to 80 per cent of her body, had been fighting for her life for two weeks.
Dead: Basmattie Ganpat
Her common-law partner, 58-year-old Manu Sukhu, who was also injured in the explosion, suffered burns to 68 per cent of his body and remains hospitalised but reportedly showing signs of recovery.
In an interview with Ganpat’s daughter Sandyha Goolram on Sunday, she said that her mother’s condition began deteriorating on Friday.
“She passed away around ten minutes to seven on Sunday morning. We had two weeks running to the hospital, now we have to bury her. Our family trying. Now we don’t have any mother or father. Our father passed away about five years ago and we are so young…we just have to stay strong”, she explained.
“When I went yesterday [Saturday] she was not responding. She was just breathing and she was sleeping all the time. The nurses kept waking her up, but she would not respond. On Friday my aunt went and she was not looking good. I prayed and asked God if he had to take her so she wouldn’t have to go through all that she was going through, then he should take her, because she started pulling out all the tubes and everything they had helping to feed her…,” she added.
The tragic incident occurred at their Lot 194 Fifth Street home, where the explosion, which allegedly involved a Massy Ltd. gas cylinder, left the couple severely injured and the home completely destroyed. The family had recently completed renovations on the house.
Investigations into the cause of the explosion are ongoing.
Initial reports suggest the possibility of a stove knob being left on, but technicians involved in the investigation have yet to confirm the exact cause.
Massy Gas Products, the supplier of the cylinder, has denied that the explosion was due to a fault with the cylinder itself. The company pointed to possible issues with fittings or regulators as contributing factors.
Massy has maintained that its cylinders undergo rigorous testing to ensure their safety.
Despite these assurances, public concerns over gas-cylinder safety continue to grow, as this incident is one of several reported in recent months.
Ganpat’s family now faces another devastating tragedy of burying their loved one.
