The haunting screams of a young man calling for his mother sent chills through bystanders who gathered in a St Philip district early Monday morning where two people died in a house fire.
There was growing horror as Barbadians awoke to the tragic news that 43-year-old Kim-Marie Greenidge and her daughter, eight-year-old Nazariah Greenidge, perished in the early morning blaze at their Heddings home.
The young man’s screams pierced the air and he had to be physically restrained from going towards the burnt house as lawmen conducted their investigations. The young man, the deceased’s son, whose name was not given, cried out to see his mother. Eventually, he was taken to a nearby residence, where relatives made an effort to calm him down.
The pain was etched on the faces of relatives and friends who gathered at the scene and looked helplessly at the destroyed two-bedroom concrete and timber house.
Tears flowed freely as loved ones struggled to contain their grief. From a distance, residents from the immediate area and surrounding communities huddled in groups.
The Barbados Police Service reported that around 4:30 a.m. on Monday they received a report about the fire. Two tenders from the Worthing and Bridgetown fire stations and nine fire officers under the command of Divisional Officer Tremelle Perch responded to the blaze.
Relatives told members of the media that they were too distraught to speak. However, several of Kim-Marie’s friends who gathered at the scene described her as a “nice lady”.
Fire officers combing the scene.
They said Nazariah; a student of Christ Church Girls’ School at Water Street, Christ Church, was a precious child who had gone too soon.
One man who did not give his name told Barbados TODAY that he was Kim Marie’s friend and that he last spoke to her on Sunday morning on the telephone.
The man said even though he rushed to the scene and saw the condition of the house, he was in denial that his friend and her daughter were gone.
“When I heard the news this morning, I was shocked, all like now I got cold bumps. She was a very nice person. We talked yesterday morning and she told me she had to go and do something for somebody and that is the last time we talked.
“She usually calls me at night, but I didn’t hear her last night. Nazariah was a very nice little girl, a pretty little girl. I know Kim from the time the little girl was born. This just got me shocked. I really can’t believe it,” he said.
Meanwhile, another friend who also requested anonymity indicated that Kim-Marie, whom he knew through her son, loved her children. The friend described the circumstances surrounding the death of the mother and daughter as “strange”.
“I was home. Her son lives behind me with his father, and one of his brothers called and let him know, ‘I hear that your mother house burning and I think she might be inside’. So he and his father bound cross by we now and give we the story.
“Them wake we up, so you know you get up in a daze and was like ‘what?’. Then he get another call telling him that the two of them in the house dead, that the two of them burn alive or something like that. But I know she ain’t gine kill herself. I don’t believe that she gine kill herself. I don’t believe that.”
“My heart aches for the little girl. That child ain’t see a star pitch yet, and she gone. This is very sad,” another resident told Barbados TODAY.
Member of Parliament for St Philip South Indar Weir, who spent some time at the scene said he was familiar with Kim-Marie and her daughter. The woman, he said, had visited his constituency office on numerous occasions.
Weir recalled that Nazariah spent a lot of time running up and down in the office.
“I would want to express my condolences to the family and hope that they can rally through this difficult time.
“My team and I would obviously have to come together and determine how we can assist the family…I would await any additional information as it comes to hand,” Weir said.
Police Inspector Stephen Griffith said law enforcement officials were continuing investigations into the fire.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb ]]>
