The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has said it is still working to identify what led to a fire Thursday morning at Lot 136, Fifth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown which resulted in the deaths of foreign nationals, 25-year-old Maria Lina Texidor Alonso and 44-year-old Maria Alejandra Patiño Benjamin and left 13 people homeless.
The call was received at 8:46 a.m. alerting of a house on fire at the above address.
Water tenders #102 from the Alberttown Fire Station, #100 and #105 from the Central Fire Station along with an Ambulance and Emergency Medical Technicians were immediately dispatched to the location.
Hydrants in the vicinity were serviceable but an adjacent open source of water was used to extinguish the fire.
Once the fire was extinguished it was discovered that the two women had been trapped inside the heavily-grilled building and tragically died as a result.
The top floor of the building was severely damaged while the ground floor suffered water damages leaving a total of 13 persons homeless.
Investigations are ongoing.
(Slightly modified GFS press release)
