12-year-old girl and aunt burn to death in Linden fire

Aug 16, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – A 12-year-old girl and her aunt were late Monday night burnt to death in their Second Street, Silvertown, Wismar, Linden home.

Dead are Eukeila Adams and her aunt Cheryl Moore.

Reports are that the fire was set by Moore’s 33-year-old brother Akali. Akali had reportedly escaped from the scene just after setting the house ablaze but was subsequently caught in a clump of bushes two streets away. He was arrested.

Earlier Monday, relatives held a small birthday celebration for the 12-year-old girl. At the time of the fire, it is believed that the duo had not retired to bed. However, reports are that Akali, who is said to be of unsound mind, had threatened to kill Cheryl with a cutlass.

Shortly thereafter, it is alleged that the man doused the lower flat of the house with kerosene before setting the house ablaze.

Phillip Moore, Eukeila’s father, was forced to jump over the verandah along with other relatives while another sister, Pauline jumped through a window to escape the blaze. Efforts were made to rescue Cheryl and Eukeila, but they were unsuccessful.

Cheryl’s body was found on the step leading downstairs. It was burnt beyond recognition. Reports from the scene indicate that something apparently fell on the woman, trapping her.

“It was like she was trying to come down the step but the blaze was too much, the fire start downstairs but like they wake up late and didn’t get to make it out,” a neighbour told Kaieteur News.

Eukeila’s body was found under the step. She sat the National Grade Six Assessment earlier this year and was preparing to attend Secondary School in September.

“Up to yesterday, she celebrated her birthday, happy and everything, this is very, very sad,” the neighbour said.

Eukeila’s grieving mother told Kaieteur News that she wanted her daughter to spend the day at her home for her birthday but her request was not granted. The mother was inconsolable at the scene.

“All a wanted was for my daughter to spend some time with me for her birthday, that was all a ask for,” the distraught woman said.

Neighbours said that within minutes, the entire house was engulfed and when the fire tender arrived, there was nothing that could be done to save the building or those trapped inside.

Meanwhile, a relative told Kaieteur News that several reports were made to the Wismar Police Station about the violent threats allegedly made by Akali.

“I don’t know if he set it on purpose, if they had any problem or so, but like he does ‘go and come’ (mentally unstable) … I don’t know if he wasn’t in his right senses or what…but when it happened, he run and hide,” the relative said.

Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira, who is a resident of Silvertown, and who was on the scene of the fire, said, “This tragedy is a great loss not only to the family, the Silvertown community, and Linden but to the entire country. I saw the pain of her mother, and it was unbearable. In this difficult situation, we saw a community came out and lend support and it show strength in unity and it is this unity I want to encourage the people of our community to let us work together to help rebuild the home of this family and seek help for this family in providing counselling and emotional support they will need.”

Meanwhile, in a joint statement from Region 10’s Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 10 and the Mayor & Town Council of Linden said the tragedy has allowed for renewed calls for a fire station at Wismar.

“As your elected representatives, the RDC and the Municipality have continuously represented the need for the provision of a Fire Station at Wismar to address these emergencies. Indeed, given the terrain of the communities at Wismar, the restrictions posed by the current configuration of the Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge, and the geographic expanse presented for coverage by this section of the town, this call for the construction of a Fire Station was taken up by the 9th Council of the RDC and the 11th Council of the municipality as soon as they assumed office,” the joint statement said.

Recently, the two agencies adopted four areas of focus for attention based on reports from the various security agency heads, the foremost of which was the urgent need for the provision of a fire station at Wismar.

The other issues included the installation of fire hydrants across the community of Linden, the increase of the use of synthetic drugs such as ‘molly’ in the community and the high prevalence of persons battling mental health issues in Linden.

“The provision of a Fire Station at Wismar was not only discussed, but has been advanced locally to the stage where land has been identified and secured for the building of this much-needed facility at Wisroc and several appeals have been made to the Ministry of Home Affairs and publicly for this structure to be budgeted for and constructed urgently,” the statement said.

The regional officials also called for the hiring of trained and experienced firefighters, the acquisition of fire tenders including those suitable to traverse the terrain presented at Wismar and all of the other input necessary for the commencement of the service.

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• home, Linden, Second Street, Silvertown, Wismar

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