A woman and her four children died in an early morning fire yesterday at Second Street, No. 64 Village, Corentyne.
Those who perished were Hemwatie Singh, 34, Kelvin Ramjatan called ‘Rovin’, a 14-year-old; Brandon Ramjatan called ‘Ravin’, a 10-year-old special needs child; Tomesh Ramjatan called ‘Arvin’, age two years; and his sister Cindy Ramjatan called ‘Emily’, an 11-year-old pupil of New Market Primary School.
The police said in a statement that they were all awake and attempting to escape the fire. They tried to run out of the house but as they saw the large flames in front of the house, they turned back and went upstairs and were trapped in the fire.
The blaze has left relatives and neighbours in mourning, seeking answers in the wake of the tragedy.
Family members are calling for justice. Hemwatie’s mother, Aunty Gallo, in an exclusive interview with Stabroek News shared poignant memories of her daughter, describing her as a peaceful individual who got along with everyone in the community.
Recounting the events after the fire, family members described a futile attempt to rescue Hemwatie and her children as they were trapped inside the engulfed structure. Despite efforts by neighbours and the eldest son, the intensity of the flames rendered their rescue efforts in vain.
Expressing disbelief and sorrow, Hemwatie’s sister noted the unprecedented nature of the tragedy, emphasizing the tight-knit bond they shared. She shared their disbelief at the tragedy as relatives gathered to grapple with the reality of their loss and deliberate on the way forward.
They recalled the fire’s origin near a car, followed by a sudden explosion that rapidly spread to the house and neighbouring lots.
“We are devasted this kind of thing never happened in our family and we always look out for each other,” said the sister, holding back tears. “There are no words to describe what we feel right now. Look everybody here just sitting today trying to figure what to do.”
Hemwatie was the caretaker of the lot next door since the owners are currently residing in Canada and they would send money to the woman to assist her with the children. Other relatives are expected to travel from abroad to assist with the burial arrangements for the woman and her four children.
The tragic deaths have raised questions in light of the disclosure that Hematie’s husband, Rohan Ramjatan had been in the custody of police at the time of the fire in connection with a cattle rustling probe. The police also said that there were reports that there had been problems with the GPL power supply in the area.
The police said in their statement yesterday that they are investigating a report of the fire which destroyed a two-storey wooden house, property of Rohan Ramjatan called ‘Map Head’, a 36-year-old cattle farmer of Lot 216 No 64 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, and an unoccupied wooden and concrete house (owner unknown), situated north of the house owned by Ramjatan.
A police team visited the fire scene at about 3.30 yesterday morning. At the scene, Kevin Ramjatan called ‘Alex’, age 17, stated that at about 2 am yesterday he was on the verandah, which is situated east of the upper flat of the building, sleeping, when he was awakened by flames from the lower flat of the house where his father’s motor car was parked.
As he saw the flames, he immediately ran down the stairs to the lower flat using the inner staircase. He opened the lower flat door of the house where his mother and siblings were. They tried to run out of the house but as they saw the big flames of fire in front of the house, he said that they turned back and went upstairs and were trapped in the fire.
The police said that residents in the area also said that the GPL wire was on fire last week, and again on Monday night.
No injury was seen on the 17-year-old who escaped. However, he said that he closed their steel gate on 2024-11-11 at about 18:30hrs, and went upstairs, and when he escaped from the fire, the gate was open.
He could not call the Police immediately because he did not have a phone, and neither were the neighbours responding. He proceeded to his grandmother’s house in the village and took relatives to the scene. By that time, the entire building was engulfed in flames.
Fire tender #101, headed by Section leader Williams and two crew members, arrived at about 03:35hrs and went into action, and the fire was put out. Among the debris, five burnt bodies were later found, suspected to be the burnt bodies of Hemwatie Singh, Kelvin Ramjatan, Brandon Ramjatan, Tomesh Ramjatan and Cindy Ramjatan.
The remains were escorted to the Skeldon Public Hospital’s Mortuary awaiting post-mortem examinations.
