Firefighters rescue elderly man from burning building

Jun 03, 2014 News

Firefighters attempting feverishly to cut the heavy grill work

Fire fighters last evening battled a fire that had engulfed a Turkeyen house, eventually rescuing an elderly man who was immediately rushed to the hospital with burns about the body. The man was identified only as Sewsankar, 77 of lot 33, Third Street Turkeyen. According to reports, the man lives with his son who up to press time this morning was identified as ‘Sonny.’ The younger man had reportedly left his elderly father at home to take a walk a short distance away when the fire began. The area had been experiencing bouts of low voltage and as such this newspaper understands that Sewsankar resorted to lighting a candle. This reportedly caught on something flammable quickly engulfing the home. A loud explosion-presumably from a gas cylinder- alerted neighbours. As persons converged on the scene, the man could be heard shouting for help from inside the heavily grilled building. By this time his son had returned and shouted to him to seek refuge in a bathroom in the house. When this publication arrived on the scene, one set of firefighters could be seen struggling to cut through the grillwork while another attempted to break through the back door of the house. By this time the flames had almost completely engulfed the upper flat of the two storey building. This went on for more than half an hour but their efforts eventually paid off and the man was rushed to the hospital in a waiting police vehicle (see more details in tomorrow’s edition)