Fire razes abandoned ‘drug sex den’

The wooden house, known as “The Mansion”, is situated on San Fernando Street and went up in flames at about 6 am yesterday.

It was just outside that house where a female secondary school student was shot in the chest following an argument in November last year.

The girl had gone to the house with a male secondary school student and an older man.

Yesterday, neighbours reported the fire to the Mon Repos Fire Station and firemen arrived on the scene within ten minutes.

“The Mansion” had been abandoned for the last five or six years, but had been occupied by five homeless people, a police report stated, four men and one woman.

The abandoned house had been featured in the news as a hideout as well where police officers raided for drugs, and on many occasions, had to warn students against frequenting the building. In November last year, the female secondary school student was shot in the chest.

Following the shooting, former San Fernando Mayor Kazim Hosein who is now the Minister of Local Government, had instructed corporation workers to clean and close the house and debar members of the public from frequenting.

Betty Bhaggan, a neighbour, said, “I was lying down here sleeping when I heard my neighbour downstairs shouting ‘Fire! Fire!’ She said that when the heat became unbearable, she grabbed her grandchildren and ran outside.

Darrel Kissoon, who was asleep at the time, recalled, “This morning, God has saved us and I thank Him for that, because me and my family work hard and it would have been a really sad morning if my house had fall down too.” The cause of the fire has not been determined, but Mon Repos firemen are investigating.