Preliminary investigations into the fire that destroyed the building which houses G Bacchus Enterprises, formerly MFK Trading on Hadfield Street, indicate that it was electrical in nature and dozens of persons may now be on the breadline following the inferno.
According to owner of the business, Goolmohamed Rahaman, investigators from the Guyana Fire Service informed him yesterday that the fire appeared to be electrical in origin. He said that almost everything in his store, which he valued at $400M was destroyed and according to the distraught man, the building was insured but at a smaller sum.
He said that he insured the property at $110M and he noted that the sum was inadequate for him to restart the business.
At the scene yesterday Rahaman was being interviewed by several fire officials as staff members mopped up the floors within the building. Inside the 4-storey structure, appliances, foodstuff, furniture and clothing among other goods had been destroyed and according to a staff member, he and many of his colleagues would be without jobs.
He said that more than two dozen persons worked at the store.
Staff members were salvaging pieces of electrical appliances and hardware material on the second floor of the building which appeared to have borne the brunt of the fire.
Based on information received by this newspaper an explosion was heard some time after eight and smoke was noticed coming from the back of the bottom flat.
The fire service was called and responded immediately. On Saturday evening, police immediately cordoned off the scene and kept curious onlookers at bay.
At one point a fire truck with a hydraulic platform arrived at the scene to assist in getting fire-fighters to the upper floors of the four-storey structure. Thick black smoke spewed from all the openings in the building as the firemen experienced difficulty gaining access to the cramped sections of the building.
An official said the fact that the building had been constructed out of solid concrete also made it difficult to fight the blaze.
Rahaman when contacted told this newspaper on Saturday night that it is painful to see his investment reduced to ashes. He said that he began the process of building the outlet in 2010 and paid the last installment on it in February.
He said that he opened a supermarket on the bottom flat and an electrical store on the second floor in late 2010. The other two floors were being used for storage.
