WATCH: Grandmother mourns death of 3 children killed in Westmoreland fire
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — Still haunted by her daughter’s mysterious disappearance last July, Beverley Campbell is now utterly devastated after seeing the charred remains of the house where her three grandchildren burnt to death Sunday evening.
“A prison, oh Jesus mi cyah tek it!” cried an inconsolable Campbell on Monday morning.
“Whoii, mi wah dem, mi wah dem, mi wah dem! Mi cyah tek dis! A dis dem come to!”
The police have identified the three boys as seven-year-old Jayden Laing and his twin Jorden, as well as eight-year-old Adrianno Laing.
Their 13-year-old sister, Adrianna Laing remains in hospital with severe burns.
The three boys were all students of Sheffield All Age School. Adrianna attends Maggotty High School in St Elizabeth.
The rubble told a story of preparation for back-to-school, with burnt uniforms and books among the bedding and other items of clothing.
Reports from the police are that the father of all four children, 48-year-old Adrian Laing was at home with them when he lit a candle after a power outage in the community.
Laing, a music selector popularly known as ‘DJ Bones’, subsequently went outside and, shortly after, the house was engulfed in flame. Efforts were made to rescue the children, however only Adrianna was saved due to the magnitude of the blaze, according to the police report.
The Negril and Savanna-la-Mar fire brigades were summoned. Upon their arrival they conducted a cooling down operation, where the burnt remains of Jayden, Jorden and Adrianno were seen in the burnt-out shell of the five-room house. They were taken to the hospital where they were pronounced dead.
When OBSERVER ONLINE visited the community Monday morning, residents expressed shocked disbelief. Some described the children’s father as a “good man”.
“Him play both role, anyweh yuh see him, his kids dem deh deh. Di little boys were jovial, lovely and the twins dem always a smile,” said one distraught resident who identified herself as Donna.
“Everything put out neatly fi dem guh a school, him always post dem on Facebook. Mi could never seh nutten bad bout him,” she added.
The community is still without electricity.
– Kimberley Peddie
