(Trinidad Guardian) Desperate to get the attention of anyone to come to his family’s aid, Rajkumar Singh, 70, screamed from his window for help before dawn on Wednesday as fire trapped his family inside.
His screams were heard, but his neighbours could not find a way to save him, his wife and his son as the fire spread through the top storey of their Samaroo Street, Aranguez home.
Relatives told Guardian Media, that his wife, Leela Singh, 68, became aware of the fire when she heard a noise in the front room of the building shortly after 2.30 am.
When she left her bedroom to investigate, she saw the fire spreading across the house. She awoke her husband, Rajkumar, and attempted to call out to their son, Shiva, 35, who was asleep in his bedroom.
They were not able to wake him immediately and called the fire services shortly before 3 am. They also called their relatives to tell them what was happening. The elder Singh called out to his neighbours to help but they could not find a ladder tall enough to get the family out of the house.
They were, however, able to rescue a woman and child who lived in an apartment on the ground floor of the building.
The woman and her son were awoken and taken from the apartment by a neighbour who had jumped over the wall.
Fire officers arrived and contained the fire at around 4 am, but by that time it was too late for the family. Father, mother and son were found dead in the home.
Officers believe they died of smoke inhalation.
The relatives, who also lived nearby, said they were struggling to believe what happened, and only spoke off the record at the scene of the incident.
The home, which was mainly damaged on the upper storey, was valued at $2.5 million, although police said that based on the age of the structure it had likely devalued to a lower figure. The cause of the fire was still to be determined.
Corporal Khan of the Barataria Police Station is leading investigations into the incident.
