An elderly couple, who are receiving medical attention, and another family member are among the homeless after fire destroyed a two-storey house in North East La Penitence, Georgetown on Thursday.
The damaged North East La Penitence, Georgetown home
The fire of unknown origin started shortly after 03:00h at Lot 520 North East La Penitence. The elderly couple were in the upper flat of the building while their tenants were in the downstairs apartment.
One of the fire victims, Rafeena Leitch, told Guyana Times that she lived at the premises for over six years with her two children, her mother, and her brother.
She related that it was neighbours who alerted them to the fire.
Fire victim: Rafeena Leitch, along with one of her children
“The top floor has my landlord and his wife, but they don’t live here, they just came in the country for a few days. I was sleeping and we hear the big tumbling upstairs, we did not know it was a fire, until my neighbour next door holler ‘Fire!’, so I don’t know what caused the fire, how it started, but that is all,” the woman related.
She added that the elderly couple were taken to the hospital, where they were receiving treatment for injuries sustained.
According to Leitch, her landlord and his wife are both in their 60s.
“The two of them got trapped in the fire. The back window had to be broken for them to jump through. One jumped through and the other came down the ladder… everything has been damaged.”
Leitch is asking for any form of assistance especially for her young children, as the now homeless persons contemplate their next move.
Meanwhile, an investigation by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) is currently ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
