Around 40 Cuban migrants were left homeless last Monday after a fire destroyed the upper floor of a rental building in Georgetown, Guyana, where they were living in overcrowded conditions.
The incident occurred shortly after 9:00 AM at a property located on Lot 216 of South Road, in the Lacytown neighborhood, according to reports from Guyana Times and iNews Guyana.
Although the fire completely consumed the upper floor of the building, all the occupants managed to escape alive, including women and children.
According to witnesses, the fire started when several electrical wires near the ceiling began to smoke before igniting.
The two-story building, made of wood and concrete, housed a car and parts sales business on the ground floor, while the second floor was divided into 11 or 12 rooms where Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants lived.
With an average of four people per room, about 40 individuals resided in the building.
One of the tenants, Yumiliisi Peres, reported that she was taking a shower when she heard the alarm screams.
"The fire started outside... Then I heard them shouting, 'Fire! Run, run!'" he recounted.
Peres explained that he had to struggle to open the bathroom door before he managed to get out.
Another resident reported that a woman carrying a child in her arms was trapped for a few moments, but neighbors managed to rescue her before the flames reached the house.
The Guyana Fire Service reported that upon arrival at the scene, they found the second floor completely engulfed in flames, with several nearby properties threatened by the fire.
"Thanks to a swift and coordinated response, the fire was successfully contained on the upper floor, preventing it from spreading to neighboring properties," the institution stated.
The upper floor was completely destroyed, while the business located on the ground floor sustained partial damage.
Authorities are conducting an investigation to determine the causes of the fire.
The fire occurs in the context of a significant increase in Cuban migration to Guyana, driven by the oil boom in the South American country.
According to data cited by Bloomberg, Guyana granted legal status to 135,000 Cubans in 2024, compared to only 800 in 2020, highlighting the rapid increase in this migratory flow.
However, numerous migrants are living in precarious conditions. In February of this year, the authorities inspected another building in Georgetown where 77 Cubans were residing during an operation by the Human Trafficking Unit, although no illegal activities were detected.
The fire adds to other recent incidents that have affected the Cuban community in Guyana. On July 14, a 25-year-old Cuban lost his life after being struck by a high-pressure hose during a work accident in Providence. In May, another young Cuban, aged 23, was shot dead while working in the Queenstown neighborhood of Georgetown.
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