May 20: On this day in Jamaican history, the Eventide tragedy claims 144 lives
It was an act of cruelty that brought the
already violence-torn Kingston to its knees, shook the island to the core and
made international headlines 40 years ago.
Eventide Home for the Aged was forever
changed when 144 elderly and infirmed women were killed in a fire at the institution
on May 20, 1980. Eventide was home to some 700 Jamaicans at the time.
Residents of Slipe Pen Road awoke heartbroken
that fateful Tuesday morning, as the Myers Ward of the Eventide Home was
reduced to “metal rods, zinc sheets and ashes”.
The old, wooden building, erected to house
the poor for more than 100 years, yielded to the unforgiving fire set by arsonists;
of the 211 women living at the ward, only 58 escaped alive.
Another two women died from the severe burn
injuries they received at the Kingston Public Hospital, seven were missing and
presumed dead.
An article, archived by the , recalled it took firefighters from the capital and neighbouring parish of St Andrew to tame the deadly inferno.Jamaica National Heritage Trust
“The loss caused by the fire was estimated
at J$150,000. The Government agency responsible for the upkeep of the home, the
Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation (KSAC), announced that whether Eventide
was repaired or rebuilt at a new location it would be costly to the Government,”
the JNHT wrote.
Forty years later, and the investigation is
still no closer to unearthing those responsible for the atrocity.
However, as the island was being consumed
by the mayhem that was the 1980 general election political campaign,
conspiracies ran rife and untamed that the tragedy was deeply rooted in
tribalism.
“One opinion on the cause of the fire
argued that it was the result of political manoeuvring during the final months
leading up to the most violent general elections in Jamaica’s recent history.
There were in fact a number of reports to the police from persons living at the
home that gunmen had entered the premises more than once, claiming they had
come to kill the staff and inmates for reasons connected with their alleged
political affiliations. Moreover, gunmen besieged the premises of the home just
six months after the fire and this time injured two persons,” the historical
article continued.
The conspiracies didn’t stop in Jamaica
either, from allegations of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) involvement
to the Reichstag, the heated political landscape quickly overshadowed the
disaster.
The victims were buried in a mass grave and a memorial constructed in their honour at the National Heroes Park in Kingston.
For more, watch this riveting documentary by Fae Ellington below:
