Two children of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam sustained second degree burns about their bodies when their bed caught fire around 4 am yesterday during a scuffle between their parents who are both in police custody.
The children Nathasia, 11, and six-year-old Kimberly are nursing injuries to about 80% of their bodies at the NA Hospital. Their backs, tummies, hands and feet are badly burnt. Nathasia also suffered burns to her face and ears.
Their parents, Marlyn Lindie, 42, and Paul Edghilo, 29, are both in police custody assisting with investigations. Reports are that Edghilo and Lindie had an argument on Tuesday night and he walked out of the house.
This newspaper learnt that the man returned home around 4 am as the woman was preparing breakfast and the argument continued.
According to reports, in a fit of anger, the man reportedly pitched the pot off the one-burner kerosene stove before hurling the stove at the woman. The stove missed her and fell on the bed where the children were sleeping in the small shack which is just a few feet off the ground. The bed immediately became engulfed in flames.
In a courageous act, this newspaper learned, Nathasia, who had awakened during the commotion, threw Kimberly and another sibling, eight-year-old Sabrina, out of the window. Luckily, Sabrina escaped unhurt.
The children’s cousin, Anthony Fraser told Stabroek News that while the children’s conditions were said to be stable they were experiencing a lot of pain and discomfort.
Fraser who lives about a mile away from where the incident occurred said he learnt about it around 5.30 am yesterday.
Meanwhile police said Lindie and Edghilo are blaming each other for the children’s injuries.
While she claims that he threatened to “kill all of them”, he is claiming that she threw the stove at him and that he threw the mattress out of the window to prevent it from burning the house down.
