Triple tragedy strikes Moruga man

Fire victim Ayanna Joshua, 32, died on Thursday at the hospital. -
Fire victim Ayanna Joshua, 32, died on Thursday at the hospital. -

TRIPLE tragedy has struck Wendell “Foots” Bobcombe who first lost his Moruga home to a fire and then days later, his common-law wife and then his step-daughter died at hospital from injuries sustained in the blaze.

“Right now I just don’t know nah,” Bobcombe said as he sat among the rubble of his humble wooden home on Sunday. The funeral for his wife Vindie “Popo” Joshua, 57, and her disabled daughter Ayanna Joshua, 32, has been set for Wednesday. Both women had to jump out of the house to escape the fire last week Sunday.

Joshua died on Tuesday at the San Fernando General Hospital and her daughter, who was also warded at this hospital, died on Thursday. Ayanna was said to be mentally and physically challenged. Bobcombe, 55, escaped from the blaze but is now both homeless and alone.

Last week Sunday at about 1.30 am, fire broke out at the three-bedroom wooden house in Fifth Company Branch Road. Bobcombe recalled he was outside relaxing alone when he saw a light came off from inside the house. Bobcombe said he his wife had turned off the light to show her displeasure with him being outside at that hour.

Shortly after, he saw the nearby streetlight flicker and then stop working and smoke started to billow from his house which soon become engulfed in flames.

“I raced upstairs one time. But the fire was too much, and I could not enter. I screamed out and begged them to jump (from the window). Eventually, Popo threw the daughter first, then she jumped out,” Bobcombe said.

Moruga fire victim Vindie “Popo” Joshua, 57, died on Tuesday at the San Fernando General Hospital. -

“They were barely conscious as they inhaled a lot of smoke and got damaged from the jump. The clothes on Popo’s back was burnt. Ayanna was mentally challenged, but she was a brilliant child and a sweetbread.” He is now living in a plastic tent erected among the ruins of the house.

Pointing to stray dog, Bobcombe claimed the animal came to the area three weeks ago. A week before the fire, he said, the dog began to howl non-stopped for no reason. He said he took this as a sign that someone in the community was soon to die. Pointing at the dog which stood nearby, Bobcombe said, “That is the guy who brought the news. I did not understand why this dog decided to come and stay here. Even when Popo was hospitalised, he came back howling.”

“The moment I got the news that she had died, he stopped howling. I am trying to hold on yes. A few days ago, I was unable to talk about this which has befallen me. I’ve lost my family.”

Joshua was a mother of two and grandmother of five. Since the incident, Bobcombe said, friends and relatives have pitched in to help him with food, clothes and moral support. “But it’s at night when I feel it the most. At nights, I am alone with no one to talk to.”

No cause for the fire has been given and Princes Town police are investigating.

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"Triple tragedy strikes Moruga man"

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