When neighbours realised that a young lady was trapped in the burning house at Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) – all efforts were made to save her.
However, Krystle Chung, 27, died in the early morning fire.
One neighbour, Navin, told this publication that all efforts were made to rescue the woman but at some point, they had to give up because “the fire was too much”.
“We couldn’t get to do nothing. The fire been too much… Everybody try fuh break open but the blaze was too much,” he recalled.
According to the neighbour, the Fire Service also “did their best”.
“Them man come quick and do them best … them fireman try them best. They couldn’t do nothing more,” the neighbour posited.
Chung’s mother, father and younger sister escaped from the burning house with minor injuries.
Another neighbour, Viola Patterson, said she was informed that it was a group of garbage collectors who alerted the family of the fire.
Patterson, whose house is right next door to the one that was on flames, said she was not at home and had received a call from someone informing her of the fire.
“A garbage truck stop and the men run out of the truck and run into the yard. They saw the garbage collector, one throw a brick to our window. He assumed persons were at home, the other one went over there and he “bang, bang, bang “until he got the attention of the male person over there,” she recalled.
“When the persons came down, the place was already filled with smoke…anyway, the three of them came out of the house, that is the man, his wife, and his young daughter,”
“Unfortunately, the older daughter … she was trapped in her bedroom. They tried to get her but they say they usually locked their bedroom doors when they go into their rooms, so apparently, she locked the door, and I don’t know if it was the smoke or the fire or whatever, but the door just wasn’t opening. So, the three of them got out, and one remained,” the neighbour explained.
After firefighters managed to put the blaze, the upper half of the young woman’s charred body was seen handing from the front-right side of the house where the walls had collapsed.
Chung’s charred remains were subsequently removed by undertakers, as her distraught family members along with others watched.
Investigations are being conducted to determine the cause of the fire.
