King St fire victims laid to rest

Theresa Rozario 12 and Clarissa Rozario 14, the two sisters who perished in a fire at King Street last week, were laid to rest yesterday and a memorial service was held at the St George’s Cathedral.

A small funeral service was held at the Lyken Funeral Home earlier yesterday for the children, whose mother complained that she was not properly informed about the arrangements.

The girls, both of 65 King Street, perished last week Monday in an early morning fire that the Guyana Fire Service believes was the result of arson. Their father, 63-year-old Hilrod Thomas, jumped from the burning building after he was unable to save them.

It had been reported after the fire that persons were seen throwing Molotov cocktails at the building, which had been in the centre of a bitter dispute for years. Persons were seen offloading hollow blocks at the burnt-out building site yesterday.

The mother of the girls, Rosemarie Rozario, told this newspaper yesterday that she wasn’t properly informed by the relatives of her estranged husband Hilrod that the funeral was yesterday. She said that by the time she got to the parlour, her children were already in their coffins.

“I didn’t even get to see who dem put in the box. Dem go behind my back and do this thing. How could they do that? They were my children,” said the distraught mother.

A memorial was also held at the St George’s Cathedral at 3 pm where between 200 and 300 persons turned up to pay their respects.

Scores of teary-eyed students from St John’s College and the New Guyana Trust College, where the girls went to school, were seen huddling up holding hands.

On the other end of the pew, the girls’ siblings were seen sobbing as their mother broke down in tears and was consoled by family members.

“Why? My baby dem,” she cried.