A minibus owned by Secretary of the Bartica Minibus Association, Diane Banwarie, was torched in a suspected act of arson yesterday morning.
Banwarie, of 42, 3 ½ Miles, Bartica, told Stabroek News that sometime around 2:30 am, she discovered the bus on fire and despite attempts to save it, the vehicle was destroyed.
Banwarie said she and her husband returned home sometime around 10:30 pm on Saturday, parked their minibus BWW 4929 and retired to bed. Hours later, she related, she was awoken by the sound of the alarm from the minibus.
“I got up and I pull the blind and then I saw the fire from the driver side of the bus. So I wake up my husband and both of us run outside and turn on the water and try to put out the fire. My neighbours, they wake up as well and come to help us and called the fire service but by time they reach, we had already out the fire,” she explained in a telephone interview.
The woman recalled that after the fire was doused, they returned to bed.
“When we wake up yesterday morning and went back and check the bus, we saw a truck spanner on the ground and a blue jar on the driver’s seat with some paper. There was a high scent of gasoline and oil. We suspect someone set the bus on fire and got away,” she lamented.
Banwarie said that while the bus was not entirely destroyed, the front including the computer box and dashboard, along with sections of the interior, were wrecked.
The woman said a report was made to the police and an investigation has been launched.
