Grenada PM’s brother dies in South blaze

The 64-YEAR-OLD half-brother of Grenada Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell was burnt to death in a fire which destroyed his St Margaret’s home yesterday morning. The charred remains of Godfrey Mitchell were discovered in the bedroom of his home. Speaking to Newsday from his home in Grenada, a shocked Grenada PM, Dr Keith Mitchell, lamented the loss of his half-brother Godfrey Mitchell. “We were very close and his passing is very sad to me. We were so close as a family that I did not even consider him my half brother, he was my full brother.

His death came as a shock to me,” said Dr Mitchell, who was made aware of the situation via a telephone call while in a meeting with his parliamentarians. Godfrey Mitchell’s wife Merle recently travelled to England to assist her daughter who recently gave birth to twins. The eldest of his father’s children, the aged man is a father of four. One of his daughters and a son migrated to England three years ago, while another son and daughter and several other family members currently reside in Trinidad. “Right now, his wife is frantically trying to return to Trinidad since getting the news,” Muriel Mitchell (mother of Dr Mitchell) told Newsday. “We were all very close and he will be sadly missed. Only a few months ago I spoke to him and his only complaint was a little arthritis. This death is a shock. “Right now the family is waiting for the return of his wife to make funeral arrangements.” The Grenadian Prime Minister confirmed that he will be coming to TT for the funeral.

The victim’s neighbours  said they believed the fire was caused by faulty electrical wiring, after they saw sparks on TTEC lines moments before the fire. Mitchell’s next door neighbour, Leroy Niles, 32, who tried to save him, told Newsday of hearing a strange noise as that of bush burning. He said when he looked out a window in his home, he saw Mitchell’s house on fire. Niles added that he alerted his brother and together, they threw buckets of water on the burning house, but to no avail. Firemen searched the burnt out ruins after the blaze was put out when they found Mitchell’s unrecognisable corpse. Niles said Mitchell, who lived in the village for the past 15 to 20 years, was a sickly person. Visiting the scene were officers from St Margaret’s Police Station and Southern Division Homicide Bureau. An autopsy is expected to be carried out next week on the remains and investigations are continuing.