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Fire destroys two dozen buildings in Mahdia
Hinds Mini Mall - the building where the conflagration started (Photo by: Timothy Morrison)
– at least 150 homeless
Misfortune struck in the heart of Mahdia last night after a raging fire, which reportedly started around 19:00 hrs, destroyed a large grocery store which had been recently renovated and extended to include living quarters.
Also destroyed was the Mahdia Arcade, a grouping of nearly two dozen small buildings which offered food, clothing and grocery to the miners who either lived at Mahdia or who passed through to other mining locations but used Mahdia as a base.
The building in which the fire started, Hinds Mini Mall, was owned by businessman Roger Hinds.
According to reports, the fire started in the kitchen and quickly engulfed the building and consumed the grocery store that was now a part of the edifice.
People in the community immediately formed a bucket brigade, sourcing water from the numerous tanks that stored rain water and from any man-made reservoir.
The nearest source of water was a creek but getting the precious liquid from it was all but impossible. None of the miners in the area had enough hoses to link to reach the water source. Further there was no generator large enough to pump the water.
The fire spread to the arcade aback of the grocery store and destroyed every building there. People tried to save what they could but the fire spread quickly. By the time it burnt itself out some two hours later nearly two dozen buildings had been destroyed. Losses are estimated to run into the hundreds of millions.
The fire eventually burned itself out at around 21:00 hrs.
Some electric poles were destroyed but the community was plunged into darkness long before, since the businesses in the community turned off their power supply.
There is no central power supplied by Guyana Power and Light as in other parts of the country. Electricity is privately generated.
Many of those who occupied the arcade were from the coast and were seeking their livelihood in the mining community.
Some moved their children there with a view to establishing permanent residence. They all describe the fire as a devastating blow.
On receiving news of the fire, President Jagdeo asked Prime Minister Samuel Hinds to lead a team into Mahdia to assess the damage, and following the assessment, the PM must present a report to the Head of State, who will be in Jamaica for the 31st Conference of the Heads of Government summit.
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