Latest update March 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 15, 2016 News
President David Granger has ordered an inquiry into the fire at the Children’s Drop-in-Centre on Hadfield Street, Georgetown, last Friday, which resulted in the deaths of two brothers, Joshua and Antonio George.
The announcement was made by the President yesterday during the weekly televised programme, “The Public Interest.”
State Minister Joseph Harmon later confirmed that Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Woman Colonel Windee Algernon will head the inquiry. The preliminary report is expected by July 22.
President Granger said that there are several aspects that have to be investigated, since there was a previous fire at the building and some corrective work was done.
“The building seemed not ready for occupancy and given the ages of the children, they may not have been trained in responding to an emergency.”
According to the President, the inquiry is expected to provide answers for the following questions: “Was the building safe? Was the wiring safe? Were the people trained to respond to that type of emergency?”
“We need to ensure that answers are provided to the questions in order to prevent a recurrence,” the President stressed.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle confirmed that the fire was electrical in nature.
The remains of six-year-old Joshua George and Antonio George, four, were found among the debris shortly after fire fighters extinguished the blaze which started around 12:05 hrs last Friday.
Social Services Assistant Sharon Jones, who was on duty that day, said just after midnight, while sitting next to a door in the top flat of the property, she heard strange sounds coming from a wire on one of the walls of the building.
”I look at the wire and saw blue flames coming out of the wire box and it running up the wall. I panicked and grabbed the girl who was next to me and called out for Hinds (a co-worker). The girls started to panic and scream and tug at me,” Jones revealed.
She added that she gave one of the girls the keys to open the door while she started to wake and to assist the other girls.
”There was a baby I had and I rest her down. Then I realized I didn’t pick up this baby, so I run around the other side and I saw the little boy, Antonio, coming to me from the other end,” the house mother pointed out.
She said at that point, objects started to fall from above, so she had to duck under a bed and grab the baby with one arm then collect four-year-old Antonio with the other arm.
”Same time, Hinds and one of the boys come and started to work (extinguish the blaze).
By time I got to the door, I didn’t even realize the little boy (Antonio) wasn’t in my hands anymore. Sir (Hinds) tried his best (to save the little boy),” Jones recounted.
It is believed that four-year-old George loosed Jones’s hand and went back to look for his older brother.
Kaieteur News was told that the two brothers along with three other siblings were taken into the Drop-in Centre two days before the blaze, after Social Workers responded to a call of neglect and maltreatment.
Medical examinations done at the Diamond Hospital confirmed that the five siblings were indeed victims of neglect and maltreatment. They were temporarily placed at the home until further investigations could have been done.
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