Less than 24 hours after he was severely burnt in a fire at his Enmore, East Coast Demerara home, three-year-old Tony Ramlogan succumbed early yesterday morning.
At the time of his death, the child was a patient of the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Timmy Ramlogan, the child’s father, told Stabroek News yesterday that his son died around 3 am.
He said that the doctors told him that the boy’s general condition was very bad and that he could not recover from the injuries.
The grief-stricken man said that his son was just too badly burnt during the blaze which started in a bedroom where he was sleeping, around 11:15am on Tuesday.
The elder Ramlogan said relatives are making preparations for his funeral, which will be held on Friday.
Meanwhile, the child’s mother, who was the only person in the house at the time of the blaze, has been released from police custody after giving a statement to investigators.
Neighbours told this newspaper that the child’s parents have been crying uncontrollably since receiving the news of his death.
One neighbour said that she is still in shock. The woman said that the toddler was a loving child, who will be missed.
Divisional Commander Gavin Primo had told this newspaper that according to reports, the child was sleeping alone in a bedroom while his mother was in the kitchen. The woman told investigators that she next saw fire coming out of the room and an alarm was raised. Thereafter, Primo said, residents formed a bucket brigade and were able to quell the flames.
After engulfing the bedroom, the fire spread to the ceiling in the living room area of the two-storey wooden structure. Residents managed to contain the fire to that area.
The elder Ramlogan had explained that he operates a taxi service near his home and so when he got the news that there was a fire at his house, he rushed there immediately. When he arrived, his badly burnt son was handed over to him and he drove him to the hospital. The man said that most of the child’s body was burnt as was his hair.
It was two residents who braved the heat and the flames and climbed through the bedroom window in a bid to save the child. Residents said that the child’s body was white and he was apparently so terrified that he didn’t make a sound.
Ramlogan is the second child to die as a result of a house fire this year. Two-year-old Nicolas Maraj died in a fire at Vryheid’s Lust Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara on March 22.
His burnt remains were discovered in the front bedroom of the two-bedroom house he shared with his grandmother, great-grandmother and two other children.
The child’s grandmother Pulmat Singh had said that she left around 8 am to take his four-year-old sister to nursery school. Nicholas and his three-year-old cousin were left in the care of their great grandmother, Catoon Alli.
According to Alli, she was in the yard washing when she saw smoke, but initially assumed it was her neighbour burning rubbish.
The woman said she even peeped into the house but saw nothing strange. Shortly after, she saw fire in one of the bedrooms. She alerted neighbours, who formed a bucket brigade but were unable to save the house. The older child managed to escape.
