Over $200,000 in cash went up in flames yesterday as fire destroyed a bar in Chase Village, Chaguanas.
Two employees narrowly escaped injury after bolting from the building.
According to reports, around 2.30 pm, two employees of Club Samkiss at Southern Main Road, Chase Village, saw sparks coming from the building’s high voltage electrical connection from the roof.
Eyewitnesses said within seconds the roof of the bar caught afire. As the fire quickly spread, the employees and
customers at the bar evacuated. No one was injured.
By the time fire officers from the Chaguanas Fire Station arrived, the building was already engulfed in flames.
Fire officers also immediately began to douse water on Gable X, a plastic manufacturing factory located next door, to prevent the fire from spreading.
When the T&T Guardian visited the scene, several residents said they heard a loud explosion shortly after the fire had started. However, fire officers suggested that the noise came from when the bar’s roof collapsed.
In a brief interview, the bar’s owner Ramcharan Jankie said he was shocked when he received news of the fire.
“I was very surprised because we did major electrical work here about three months ago,” Jankie said.
Jankie estimated his losses to be approximately $3.75 million as he said he had over $200,000 in cash and $300,000 in stock, stored in the section of the building that was completely destroyed.
Jankie, who said that the business was his family’s for several decades, said they would seek to rebuild as soon as the property was cleared by fire inspectors.
“Samkiss is a landmark in central Trinidad. People from all over Trinidad does lime here,” Jankie said.