Well-known businessman Yusuf Sankar, 77, died after he was trapped in his Main Street, Georgetown home, which was gutted by fire early yesterday morning.
Riyadh Sankar confirmed that his father perished in the fire that ripped through the three-storey building at Lot 51 Main Street, which also housed two businesses on the first floor.
The ground floor housed Risan’s and Jarrod’s photocopy and photography centres, which were both destroyed.
Riyadh, who lives abroad, told Stabroek News that the fire started around 5.30am, although Fire Chief Marlon Gentle related that a call was made to the Guyana Fire Service at 6.01am. Five fire tenders and an ambulance were sent to the scene.
Riyadh explained that he and other family members had gone to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), where they transported one of his brothers who was traveling overseas to visit their mother. When they returned home, they found the house on fire and there were no signs of the senior Sankar. The family was forced to stand and watch as the fire destroyed the building. “We were actually out and when we came back more than half of the house was ablaze. We tried to get the vehicles out,” Riyadh explained, while pointing out that at the time of the fire, his father and his caretaker, Claire Xavier, who has been working with the family for some 37 years, were home alone.
