Fire of a so far unknown origin gutted the home of Shafiez Mohamed, a 49-year-old unemployed resident of 412 Success, East Coast Demerara.
Police Headquarters reported that the fire started at around 23:15hrs Thursday night.
According to reports, Mohamed resides in the lower flat of the two-storey wooden and concrete structure in a well-fenced yard.
He claimed that at the time he was at home cooking in the kitchen area of his residence; Mohamed told police ranks that he left his gas stove unattended, and went outside to fill a bucket of water.
However, when he returned about two minutes later, he observed that his kitchen area was engulfed in flames.
“The victim claimed that he suspected his cooking gas bottle was leaking and tried throwing a wet cloth over it in an attempt to extinguish the fire. This proved futile. He subsequently alerted his other family members, who were in the upper flat of the house at the time, and they quickly exited the building,” the police statement noted.
The Police, along with the Guyana Fire Service, were later summoned. Sub-Officer Reed and a team from the Alberttown and Campbeville Fire Service responded and extinguished the fire.
There were no casualties. Also, the building was not insured.
