Two sisters burnt to death in Mahaica house fire

Jun 08, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – Two sisters lost their lives tragically on Wednesday afternoon after their Lot 60-61 Belmont, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara home went up in flames.

The two children have been identified as three-year-old Shameena Hardat and nine-year-old Anamika Hardat. Information reaching this publication revealed that the fire started just around 13:00hrs yesterday and quickly gutted the two-storey building which at the time had only the two girls inside. After hearing screams, residents from the area rushed to the scene to help extinguish the blaze but could not reach the children in time as the fire quickly spread through the building.

Three-year-old Shameena Hardat and nine-year-old Anamika Hardat

In a statement, the Guyana Fire Service said it received a call at 13:07hrs and was alerted to the fire. Water tender #106 and crew from the Mahaica Fire Station was immediately dispatched to the location. The building involved was a two-storey wooden and concrete building owned by Ayube Mohamed Khan and occupied by 79-year-old Zaman Khan and his family of eleven. According to the Fire Service, the cause of the fire is undetermined at this time and investigations are being carried out by the Fire Prevention Department. As a result of the fire, the building and its contents were destroyed and two children lost their lives. One of the children, 9-year-old Anamika Hardat, was suffering from a disability which made it difficult to exit the house. The other child was her sister, 3-year-old Shameena Hardat. The children were left at home without adult supervision. Two jets working from an open water source were used to extinguish the fire. “The Guyana Fire Service is saddened over the loss of these two young lives and continues to advise citizens to exercise caution and follow safety measures to avoid home fires. Additionally, children should be educated on the dangers of fire starters (matches and lighters) and warned about their use. DO NOT leave children unattended or at home without adult supervision. Keep children away from the cooking area, and ensure matches and lighters are out of their reach at all times. Equip your homes with fire prevention and firefighting devices like smoke detectors and fire extinguishers; these will aid in alerting to a fire and putting it out quickly,” the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, as investigation continues, the children’s mother said that on Wednesday sometime around 11:00hrs, she had left home and went to the Cove and John Police Station to uplift child support for her children but was told to return on Thursday. She said that after that, she went to Georgetown to purchase school supplies for them, when she got the call that her house was on fire. According to the grieving woman, she could not believe what she was told and asked the caller to help out the fire since she was in the city and could not reach there in time.

The aftermath of the fire which gutted the Belmont, Mahaica home where two young children were killed.

She related that the two girls were left home alone, but the yard had two other apartments – one housing her brother and his family and the other, her father. The woman said her brother was home and could not say what might have caused the fire.

On Wednesday morning, she said she had sent her two sons to school. She said one of the two girls who perished had a disability. The woman recalled that earlier in the day before tragedy struck, she had carried her two girls to take out their passport size photographs since the little 3-year-old one was about to start school in September.

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Anamika, Belmont, children, fire, Hardat, Shameena

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