Gas stove caused fire that killed Venezuelan women

Aug 01, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Thursday’s fire which gutted an apartment building on Fifth Street, Alberttown, and claimed the lives of two Venezuelan women, Maria Lina Texidor Alonso, 25, and Maria Alejandra Patino Benjamin, 44, was reportedly caused by an unattended gas stove.

Maria Benjamin and Maria Alonso, the two women who were killed tragically in last Thursday’s fire.

This is according to Fire Chief, Kalamadeen Edoo, in an invited comment to Kaieteur News yesterday. Based on the findings from an investigation conducted by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), the women had started cooking but had somehow fell asleep and left the pot unattended.

Edoo detailed that parts of the pot began to melt and the flames ignited other combustible materials nearby causing the fire. He further pointed out that the stove was situated close to a wooden wall and the flames might have ignited it first before spreading and gutting the apartment with Alonso and Benjamin trapped inside.

With regard to how they became trapped in the burning building, GFS in a press release, which it had sent out, blamed poor construction. GFS stated, “It is important to highlight the poor construction of the building which did not possess the necessary fire safety mechanisms.”

In the release, GFS noted that the apartments in the building were not equipped with smoke alarms or fire extinguishers. Additionally, continued GFS in the release, “there were no alternative methods of escape in the occurrence of a fire or any other emergency,” since there was only one way in and one out of the apartment.

To make matters worse, GFS stated that when fire fighters arrived, it took a while for them to enter and save the women because their apartment was heavily grilled. An eyewitness to the blaze had related to this publication that while the firefighters were struggling to gain entry into the building, screams for help could be heard.

The Fire Chief had informed reporters that when the firefighters finally gained entry, the women’s charred remains were discovered. One of the women was found lying on the bed and the other was found at the back of the apartment in the bathroom.

Kaieteur News was told that Alonso and Benjamin shared an apartment together. Benjamin is a businesswoman and a mother of two. According to her relatives, the woman usually sends items from Guyana to sell in Venezuela.

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