A 34-year-old father of three is believed to have lit himself on fire yesterday morning and is now in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
Emmanuel Ramdoo of Estate Reserve, Patentia, West Bank Demerara was heard screaming at around 9:30 yesterday morning and neighbours who rushed to the scene found the badly burnt man lying on his kitchen floor.
Ramdoo lives in a crudely put together two-apartment building and his neighbour, whose living quarters is separated from him by a plywood wall, recalled seeing the fire and recounted how she scrambled to grab her young daughter and rush screaming out of the building. Neighbours formed a bucket brigade and managed to save the structure but the interior of both apartments was badly damaged by the flames.
Most of Ramdoo’s possessions were destroyed and it appeared that he was on his bed when the fire started as the bed bore most of the damage. In the room, there was an opened bottle of what smelt like kerosene on a makeshift table. The man, a cane cutter, lived with his two young daughters but they were at their grandmother at the time. The grandmother lives a short distance away.
Neighbours described Ramdoo as an easy-going individual who appeared to have no problems. They revealed that the man’s wife had left him about a year ago and he cares for his daughters.
Ramdoo’s sister told Stabroek News that they were not able to speak to him as he was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital and was later transferred to GPH where up to late yesterday afternoon, he was still being treated.
The woman, who was at the hospital at the time, could not say why her brother, whom she had last seen about two weeks ago, would want to end his life. Their mother was too distraught to speak. The sister said that while Ramdoo cared for his two daughters, his ex-wife cared for their son.
