A quick-thinking seven-year-old Glasgow, Berbice girl on Monday evening performed the heroic act of saving her four-year-old brother and herself, after their home caught afire around 9.30 pm.
Residents of Glasgow Housing Scheme, East Bank Berbice told Stabroek News that it was something they had never witnessed, as before they could render assistance, the girl had tied her brother in a sheet and lowered him to the ground through a window on the upper flat of the house. In order to save herself, the girl while using the sheet for assistance, jumped from the window, and injured herself in the process.
According to neighbours, one of them first heard screams from the children that the house was on fire. They explained that although the children had escaped the house, the gate was padlocked from the outside. However, with their assistance, the children were brought out from the yard.
One resident said that the house was locked from the outside, hence the children could not use any of the doors to escape.
One woman, who telephoned the fire service on Monday evening stated that the older child said that the fire might have started from a candle which had been left alight in the house while they fell asleep.
The children reportedly resided in the upper flat of the house with their mother. Attempts by this newspaper to contact relatives on whether the children had been left alone proved futile.
One neighbour said, “When she hear about the fire she come with a car and then she get away and hide, unto now we don’t know where she dey. Nobody ain’t come to the house yet. Nothing. This was dem grandmother house dem living in,” she explained.
When this newspaper visited the scene yesterday morning, residents said that the girl was at the hospital receiving treatment for the injuries that she sustained to her leg, while her brother was at a neighbour.
The police have launched an investigation and are presently trying to locate the children’s mother.
The fire service arrived promptly on Monday evening and were able to put out the blaze before it destroyed the entire building. However, the fire resulted in major damage to the inside of the upper flat of the house.
The fire service has launched an investigation.
