A 40-year-old man and his two young children died early Friday morning following a fire that engulfed their apartment at Lot 8 Drysdale Street, Charlestown.
Dead are Michael Richards, six-year-old Somaya Richards and four-year-old Supreme Richards.
The fire reportedly started around 6:30hrs on the upper floor of the building.
According to Rachel Haynes, who rents a space in the building, the fire is believed to be electrical in origin though this has not been confirmed by authorities as yet.
“[I think so] because of the black smoke and the neighbour downstairs get footage of some wire sparking…,” Haynes said.
She was unable to say where specifically she believed the electrical sparks began.
“I was about to press [my clothes] to go to work and them boys come and say the house smoking so that’s how we run out. By the time we run out, the whole house had smoke,” Haynes said.
Haynes explained that the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) took about 30 minutes to arrive on the scene.
“Even before we called them, the whole upstairs didn’t went on fire as yet. It was just smoke coming out,” Haynes said.
Two persons, including Haynes, managed to escape the building.
