Ranks continue to probe Main Street blaze

Sep 20, 2017 News

The early morning fire that claimed the life of 77-year old Yussuf Sankar is being investigated by members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Fire Service (GFS).
Police would have taken statements from Sankar’s sons and the caretaker, Claire Xavier. Kaieteur News understands that among the debris, a ‘safe’ was recovered.
Sources explained that the family was reluctant to hand the safe over to the officials but in the end the police removed it.
Ranks also discovered a shot gun and pistol in the ruins. Both weapons were licenced.
Riyadh Sankar, one of the dead man’s sons, said he had no idea how much the family would have lost in Monday’s fire. He also said that he is uncertain about the building being insured.

Yussuf Sankar

On Monday morning around 05:00hrs after three brothers left their father in his Main Street home, with his caretaker, there was a power failure. When the power was restored to the three-storey building, there seemed to be a power surge, according to the caretaker, Claire Xavier, who was the only one at home with the elderly man at the time.
She was asleep when the power came off and was awakened when the fan started to spin very fast. She took it off and went back to sleep. After a few minutes the woman heard shouts that a building was on fire and went to Sankar’s room to inform him.
He asked her if she knew where the fire was. She subsequently went downstairs when she discovered it was covered in thick smoke. The woman was able to get out of the building with the help of the Prime Minister’s guards. The house was next door to the Prime Minister’s official residence.
Yussuf Sankar perished in the fire since he was still recovering from surgery. His body was discovered on the stairway, indicating that he was trying to make his way out of the blazing building. The fire started downstairs where business was done, while the man lived on the top floor. He had been living there for approximately 40 years.

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