A Crane, West Coast Demerara family is homeless after their house was destroyed by fire, which was reportedly caused by a “channa bomb” in the early hours of Thursday morning.
It was about ten minutes past midnight when his wife woke up after hearing the shattering of glass, Nigel Williams, a boat operator told Stabroek News on Thursday. He, his wife and their two children were at their 485 Crane Housing Scheme home at the time. The deeply upset man said that his wife heard the breaking of the glass and then saw the flames. “Somebody shy a channa bomb at the house”, he stated.
Williams had to force open the bars on a window to get out and eventually pulled his family to safety. He said that he was only wearing his briefs at the time and the family saved nothing. “The thing (fire) spread through the house quick quick quick”, he recalled.
The family had been living at the home for the past nine months. Williams said that after coming out of the house, he saw a stranger who ran away but fell down. According to him, when he moved to the person the man said that he had come to help. As they were focused on saving Williams’ car, however, he was not paying much attention but when he checked, the man had disappeared. He estimated his losses at $4.5M. He said that the fire service responded but when they arrived, they could do nothing.
Williams said that he had a little problem with a nearby resident but “never expect it to reach so far”. He was however, reluctant to point fingers at anyone. He said that after the problem erupted, a day or two later, he received death threats. The matter is being investigated.
