Visually impaired man perishes in Diamond fire

A 90-year-old man of 17th Avenue, Diamond, East Bank Demerara was burnt alive after his house caught on fire early on Thursday. The man, who has been identified as Rupert Williams, was an amputee and was visually impaired.

His daughter-in-law, Dorset Solomon, told reporters that he was home alone at the time of the fire.

“I left him with my daughter and he sent her at the corner to buy tennis roll and she say when she come back she see the place on fire.

“He couldn’t run and do nothing and I am so hurt,” Solomon said in tears.

The woman explained that his caretaker was at the hospital while she [Solomon] was at the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security dealing with a transfer of his pension book.

According to Solomon, her father-in-law was very agitated about his pension book and could not sleep last night, so she left to look into the matter early Thursday.

While firefighters managed to extinguish the fire, the house and everything inside was already destroyed. The News Room understands that the fire started in the kitchen area of the house.

Investigators are now trying to determine the cause of the fire. (Isanella Patoir)