Colours of India – the clothing store famous around Guyana for its Indian clothing and accessories was yesterday completely destroyed by a sudden fire leaving the owner with millions of dollars in losses.
As of yesterday afternoon, firefighters were still at the scene working to completely extinguish the blaze which in addition to destroying the building and the clothing store also razed a mechanic shop and several vehicles which were at the location at the time.
Mahendra Latchman, 28, of Lot D 16 Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, explained that he operated his workshop at one section of the property while his brother Ravi Latchman operated his Indian clothing store in another section.
The brothers resided at the property which is a fully concrete two-storey extensive building with their parents and a younger sibling. Mahendra’s wife and child also resided at the location.
According to Mahendra yesterday afternoon, he was working on a vehicle when just after 3 pm, he decided to take it for a test drive around the area.
Shortly after, while in a nearby street, he was informed that the premises had caught fire.
The man said, he immediately rushed back to the scene where he noticed that the fire was spreading quickly throughout the building. At that stage, he said no one was able to access any section of the building to retrieve valuables.
As of yesterday afternoon, the family was still coming to terms with what had transpired and according to Mahendra, his brother Ravi left the country only yesterday morning for a trip.
The family is estimating their losses in the millions as in addition to the fully furnished and modernized property there was also a large inventory of stock for the clothing store as well as several vehicles at the workshop which were either destroyed or damaged in the fire.
