Dad, 3 kids perish in city fire

A FATHER and his three children perished yesterday in an early morning Port-of-Spain fire, while 15 persons were rendered homeless in what police and residents believe was a case of arson. Dead are Roland Inniss, 38, and his children Rennie, nine, Renna, six and Raul, four. They all perished huddled in an upstairs room at their Duke Street home. Their house was situated next to Neal and Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra panyard.

According to reports, around 2 am, residents of the area heard a loud explosion and observed four men running from an old abandoned building on upper Duke Street. Moments later, smoke and fire were seen coming from the building. The police were contacted and when they investigated they found Inniss lying on the ground with a laceration to his head, while the three youths were huddled together upstairs, all burnt beyond recognition. The children’s  mother who was at the National Panorama Finals at the Queen’s Park Savannah at the time, returned to find the house engulfed in flames and had to be physically restrained by officers at the scene.

Frantic searches among the ruins for the two older siblings were eventually called off when the mother said they went to Tobago on Thursday to a Carnival camp organised by the Salvation Army. When Newsday visited the area yesterday,  residents confirmed that this was the second time such an attempt was made on them. One resident told Newsday that the residents went to court and won the case. Another resident said that he expects more problems as another tenant was threatened  in the same way as Inniss. Residents believe the arsonist(s) used the cover of the Panorama finals when no one from the nearby panyard or the area would have been around to launch their attack. Fifteen other persons were rendered homeless. A Port-of-Spain businessman is currently assisting police in their investigations. Besson Street police are investigating.

Meanwhile, Arouca police are investigating the circumstances under which Cynthia Gordon was burnt to death at her Garden Village, Arouca home, yesterday. According to reports around 5.30 am residents saw smoke coming out of the wooden structure. When they investigated they found the 80-year-old woman lying on the bed with her body burnt beyond recognition. Arouca police are investigating.