…….”Baby rescues, tenant jump to safety”
By FRANCIS JOSEPH
That is what happened to Aaliyah Griffith on Friday night as she tried to rescue her aunt, Sandra Ramlogan, 60, from a burning inferno on Prince Street, Port-of-Spain.
Sadly, both women died in the fire, while several others were rescued. Some even jumped to safety and suffered injuries.
According to one tenant, while seeking to escape the fire, he heard Griffith calling out to her aunt. “But I had to go and I didn’t know anything more until Saturday morning when Aaliyah and her aunt were not accounted for,” he told Sunshine Today.
The fire broke out around 9.30 pm on Friday at the Coelho Building along Prince Street between Charlotte and Nelson Streets. From the moment the fire alarm was raised, there was panic at the building which according to one tenant, housed at least 30 persons.
Rescue efforts were immediately put in place, but the heat sent tenants scampering to safety. Some tenants fled, but others stayed to rescue others. One tenant rushed out and returned with a ladder and assisted others. The baby was rescued by employees of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) who had responded to cut the supply of electricity to that area.
Hours later, the management of T&TEC, in a Facebook Post, praised the efforts of their employees.
The Fire Department responded within minutes and fire officers rescued four persons from inside the three-storey building.
Fire officers managed to extinguish the fire and reported left the scene shortly before 3 am on Saturday.
Fire Prevention Investigators returned on Saturday morning and while checking the interior of the building, came upon the bodies of Griffith and Ramlogan.
Another tenant told Sunshine Today on Saturday, “I heard a noise, but that is nothing new as people always quarrelling. When I looked out, I saw one person jump from the third floor to the ground. I ran inside, picked up my son and some documents and fled the scene. It was not until this morning (Saturday) that I heard that two persons died. We were so lucky to escape oui.”
Deolal Singh, the owner of Meat Mouth Company Limited, said his workers assisted in rescuing some of the tenants. He said, “They had people trapped on the top floor. Two persons jumped from the top floor and jumped on the landing here. And they broke their feet.
We had to drag them down the building last night and leave them here. There were about 15 people to the top floor, who was on the tip-top. They had to jump over to the next building on the next side. And then they had to come and rescue them because they had a little baby.”
Ramlogan worked in a bakery with her husband, who also lived and worked in the building.
T&TEC in its Facebook Post said, “We are incredibly proud of the members of the Distribution North Emergency Crew who responded immediately to help to rescue a baby and others from a burning building in Port of Spain. We commend them for their quick thinking and selfless action in the face of danger.”
Those commended were: Engineer -Crystal Moe, Senior Supervisor- Odell Wickham,
Senior Supervisor -Gary Cyrille, Crew Supervisor-Vidyanand Kanhai, Linesman ‘A’- Robert Nicholls, Linesman ‘B’-Akeem Demming, Linesman ‘C’-Xavier Lake, and Aerial Lift Driver-Eric Williams.
Investigations are continuing to determine the cause of the fire. Losses are estimated at $4 million.
