Post-mortem examinations performed on the four persons who perished when fire swept through their heavily-grilled Charlotte Street, New Amsterdam home around 1:40 am on Sunday proved that they died from smoke inhalation.

The charred remains of Ivor Krishna Persaud, 63; his wife Parbattie “Patsy” Persaud and their grandchildren: Melissa, 9, and Armand, 5, were pulled out of the razed building after the fire was contained. Five of their pet dogs also perished.

Investigations are still being conducted to determine the cause of the fire which reportedly started in the upper flat of the two-flat three-bedroom wooden and concrete building. There are reports that the fire may have been electrical in origin.

Reports are the four persons who were burnt beyond recognition were sleeping in a sealed bedroom with an air-conditioning unit on and may not have been aware of the fire until it was too late.

One of the family’s pet dogs was in the upper flat, while the four others were said to be in the concrete bottom-flat.

The Guyana Fire Service was summoned and fire tenders arrived promptly at the scene and started dousing the building. However, the water they came with was quickly exhausted and there was a difficulty in sourcing more water initially.

Persons said that the tenders from the Rose Hall and Albion Estates also arrived at the scene and assisted in containing the blaze.