Woman leaps from burning house to safety

Moments after Sukdeo escaped, a loud explosion was heard — a cooking gas tank from the kitchen area. The house burst into flames that, instantly consumed the entire three bedroom flat concrete structure valued at approximately $200,000.

Sukdeo, although distraught that she and her husband had lost all their possessions, told Sunday Newsday that she constantly thanks God for saving her life. "God saved me for a reason and I am so glad that He did. I thank God for life because today I would have been known by all as the woman who was burnt to death," she said.

Sukdeo said it was about 10 am when she was asleep at her Hibiscus Avenue, Orange Field home. She was in the front bedroom when she was awakened by the screams of neighbours who were alerting her about the fire. Sukdeo’s husband, Indar, 52, a taxi driver who shared the house with her, was not there at the time.

Upon hearing the screams Sukdeo awoke to find her bedroom filled with smoke. "I see the room filled with smoke and I was stifling. When I run out I see flames," the housewife recalled. As she exited her bedroom in a bid to escape, Sukdeo found herself trapped by the blazing walls.

Sukdeo returned to her bedroom, screaming for help. One of the neighbours, known only as Roger, heard Sukdeo bawling from the front bedroom. Roger broke open burglar-proofing from a window on the southern side of the room with a piece of metal.

Other neighbours rushed to her rescue, and coaxed her to jump through a window.

Mere minutes after a gas tank exploded, and fire instantly engulfed the entire structure and its contents.

Fire appliances attached to the Couva Fire Station reportedly arrived on the scene within 20 minutes of the blaze but were unable to extinguish the flames. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

"I don’t know what I am going to do now, I lost everything in the fire, all my clothes, food. How are we going to live?" Sukdeo wept. The couple have been taken in by relatives. Freeport Police and Couva Fire officers are continuing investigations.