A devastating early-morning fire at Number 64 Village on the Corentyne has left a community in shock after claiming the lives of a mother and her four children. The sole survivor, a 17-year-old son, is currently in police custody assisting with the investigation into the blaze that completely destroyed their home and a neighboring house around 2:45 a.m.
The deceased have been identified as 34-year-old Hemwantie Singh and her children: Emily, Rovin, Ravin, and another young boy.
Singh’s sister, who rushed to the scene after learning of the tragedy, told The News Desk in anguish, “I jumped out my bed and started hollering, rushing to get here. My sister was already burned and was on the ground.” She described Hemwantie as “a very good person,” adding that it is “so hard to hear this, that she died with her four children.”
Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald, who was present at the scene, said the fire service received an alert at 3:10 a.m., and the Corriverton Fire Station responded immediately. “Upon arrival, the crew observed one building already consumed by fire and the next engulfed in flames,” McDonald reported. “Firefighters went into firefighting operations to prevent any further spread of the blaze.” Tragically, despite their efforts, the firefighters recovered the charred remains of five people.
Regional Commander Shivpersaud Bacchus confirmed that Hemwantie’s 17-year-old son, the lone survivor, is currently in police custody to aid the ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, community members have raised questions about a possible connection between this incident and the arrest of Hemwantie’s husband just the day before, in connection with cattle rustling.
Investigations continue as the community mourns the tragic loss of a family.
POLICE STATEMENT BELOW
A 34-year-old mother and four of her children are suspected to have perished in a fire of unknown origin early this morning at #64 Village, Corentyne Berbice. At the time of the fire, the woman’s husband was in Police custody assisting with a cattle rustling investigation. Their 17-year-old son who was also home at the time, managed to escape the fire unharmed.
FACTS:
Police are investigating a report of an alleged fire of unknown origin which destroyed a two-storey wooden house, property of Rohan Ramjatan called ‘Map Head’, a 36-year-old Cattle Farmer of Lot 216 No 64 Village, Corentyne Berbice, and an unoccupied wooden and concrete house (owner unknown), situated north of the house owned by Ramjatan.
A police team visited the fire scene at about 03:30 hrs this morning (Tuesday). At the scene, Kevin Ramjatan called ‘Alex’, age 17, (son of Rohan Ramjatan and Hemwatie Singh), stated that at about 02:00hrs this morning, he was on the verandah, which is situated east of the upper flat of the building, sleeping, when he was awakened by flames of fire burning from the lower flat of the house where his father’s motor car was parked.
As he saw the flames, he immediately ran down the stairs to the lower flat using the inner staircase. He opened the lower flat door of the house where his mother Hemwatie Singh, a 34-year-old housewife; his brothers Kelvin Ramjatan called ‘Rovin’, a 14-year-old school dropout; Brandon Ramjatan called ‘Ravin’, a 10-year-old special needs child; Tomesh Ramjatan called ‘Arvin’, age two-years; and his sister Cindy Ramjatan called ‘Emily’, a 11-year-old pupil of New Market Primary School; were all awake and attempting to escape the fire. They tried to run out of the house but as they saw the large flames of fire in front of the house, they turned back and went upstairs (upper flat of the house) and were trapped in the fire. They are all suspected to have perished in the fire.
Investigations also disclosed from residents in the area that the GPL wire was on fire last week, and again last night, respectively.
No injuries were seen on the 17-year-old who escaped unhurt. However, he claimed that he closed their steel gate on 2024-11-11 at about 18:30hrs, and went upstairs, and when he escaped from the fire, the gate was open.
He could not call the Police immediately because he did not have a phone, and neither were the neighbours responding. He proceeded to his grandmother’s house in the village and took relatives to the scene. By that time, the entire building was engulfed in flames.
Fire tender #101, headed by Section leader Williams and two crew members, arrived at about 03:35hrs and went into action, and the fire was put out. Among the debris, five burnt bodies were later found, suspected to be the burnt bodies of Hemwatie Singh, Kelvin Ramjatan, Brandon Ramjatan, Tomesh Ramjatan and Cindy Ramjatan.
The remains were escorted to the Skeldon Public Hospital’s Mortuary awaiting post-mortem examinations.
The father, Rohan Ramjattan, was arrested by Police in Berbice yesterday afternoon, for a cattle rustling matter, and at the time of the fire was in Police custody. Also, the 17-year-old is currently assisting the Police as they continue their investigations into the deadly fire.
