Discarded cigarette sparks $40M blaze in Corentyne

(Kaieteur News) – An early-morning fire on Thursday at No. 67 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, has destroyed the home of a family of five, leaving them desperately seeking shelter and assistance.

The fire is suspected to have been caused by a cigarette that was not properly extinguished before being discarded. Geetanjali Sukhram, 41, a housewife, and her husband, 36-year-old Sunil Subramanie, had lived in the one-flat concrete house for 15 years with their three children, ages 12, 11 and 9.

Speaking to Kaieteur News, Sukhram said her husband returned home around 11:00 p.m. and joined her on a bed on the veranda, where they sat talking. During their conversation, he asked her to bring him his lighter and cigarettes. “I carry his lighter and cigarettes and give he, and he smoke. And when he smoke, he throw away the cigarette end. And the breeze was blowing very hard,” she recalled.