(Trinidad Guardian) When fire erupted at their New Grant home on Sunday night, 92-year-old Surujdai Soogrim fought to save her son instead of saving herself.
Sadly, both Soogrim and her 64-year-old mentally challenged son, Boysie, perished in the fire that completely destroyed their home at School Trace.
Neighbours recalled seeing Soogrim at the front door crying out for help just after 10 pm. However, instead of running outside to safety, she ran back inside.
The wooden house was quickly engulfed in flames.
Soogrim’s charred body was found near the front door while Boysie’s body was found in the bedroom area.
Speaking with reporters at his Barrackpore home yesterday, Soogrim’s younger son Azim Abdool, 62, and his family could not contain their tears.
Abdool said his daughter, Annicer, dropped off lunch for his mother and brother on Sunday. He said his mother was in good spirits. His daughter left sometime after 2 pm. They got the tragic news at 11 pm.
When they got to the scene, the bodies had not yet been removed from the rubble. Relatives said Boysie was a psychiatric outpatient at the Princes Town Health Facility.
Abdool’s wife, Wazifer, said, “Definitely, she (Soogrim) did not want to leave him so she went back for him, that is what one of the neighbours told us. When they try to tell she to come out, she did not want to come out. She went back. She said she son bawling inside; she get trap. She know he was inside probably sleeping at the time,” she said.
Wiping away tears, Abdool said his mother tried her best to care for his brother.
“I know she determined when coming to her children. I know she will try hard to see if she could save him, although he was not well. She had a special love for him,” he said.
He said he would visit his mother two or three times a week, but they would drop meals for her, take her to the bank and the grocery. He and his brother sometimes spent a few days at his home.
Abdool said he asked her several times to move in with him but she refused.
“She never wanted to leave but she used to come and stay a couple days with me and we drop her back,” he said.
They said earlier this year, Boysie had set fire to a couch but they were still not sure what caused the fire on Sunday night.
He said his brother was not violent but would sometimes get verbally aggressive.
He said his mother had a breathing problem and circulation issues, but used to work as a market vendor. She was a mother of six, grandmother of ten and great-grandmother of six. He said every year they would spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day with them, and this year would have been no different.
Adding that he never thought such a tragedy would befall his family, he advised homeowners and families to be cautious with Christmas lights and leaving the stove on during this Yuletide season.
A neighbour told Guardian Media that Soogrim lived in the community for more than 20 years and she will be missed dearly.
Meanwhile, officers of the TTFS Fire Prevention Unit were at the scene yesterday searching for clues but up to press time the cause of the blaze was still unknown. Investigations are continuing.
