A 37-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter died tragically in a house fire in Charlieville yesterday morning.
Dead are Rena Bhajan and her daughter Rehanna Bhajan, who lived on Cemetery Street in Warner Village, Charlieville.
Police said, around 12.45 a.m. yesterday, residents of the area observed smoke coming from the home and notified the police, Fire Service and paramedics.
In the interim, residents attempted to form a bucket brigade as the flames spread quickly, consuming the one-storey structure.
A team of fire officers from the Chaguanas Fire Station, led by Chief Divisional Fire Officer Alleyne, responded and contained the blaze.
They then entered the premises, and found the charred remains of two persons inside the house.
Both Rena and her daughter could not then be accounted for.
Officials from the Homicide Bureau were then notified.
While the official cause of the fire is yet to be determined, police suspect, based on a preliminary investigation, that the cause of the fire may have been a result of coals which were left to smoulder to ward off mosquitoes, as the house was not outfitted with electricity.
Residents of the area, who asked not to be named, described the deaths of the mother and daughter as “a huge loss” to the community.
They said that Rena Bhajan had been living in the area for about 15 years, and was a pleasant individual.
“She was always smiling and would be walking with her daughter. She would always be pleasant and tell everyone she came across a Good Day or a Good Morning.
“She never showed us any attitude or anything. Even Rehanna was a loving child. She was always smiling and laughing. She used to go to the Chaguanas North Secondary School, but she had to drop out recently because they couldn’t afford it.
“Rena didn’t have much and was doing little domestic work here and there to get by. But she always did her best for her child.
“So it broke her a little bit when she could not send her to school. But this here, this is a sad, sad thing. I don’t even know how (Rena’s) mother going to take this. She was in the hospital the other day and only just get discharged last week.
“My heart is hurting for everyone here,” a resident said.
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