There were tears and anguished cries as more than 300 people observed three minutes of silence yesterday near the scene of last week’s deadly fire at Campus Trendz in Tudor Street.
Relatives and friends of the six females who perished in the fire and many other people who were moved by the tragedy gathered behind police barricades for a special farewell.
Many people turned up with coloured candles and bunches of flowers to lay on or at the base of the barricades.
Red and white roses, balloons, a small stuffed animal and a collection of photos of the departed in happy times were among the items secured to the barriers.
Earlier, a number of people also left messages on the street, in the form of a postcard and posters.
“The postcard read: “In loving memory of Nikkita [Belgrave], Shanna [Griffith] and Pearl [Cornelius]. Gone too soon. From your friends and customers. You will be missed.”
The collection of photos carried this message: “May their souls rest in peace, with God in heaven.”
Tiffany Harding, Kellishaw Ollivierre and Kelly-Ann Welch died along with Belgrave, Griffith and Cornelius after robbers firebombed the store.
Some people came to the midday ceremony with a quiet message to Government to “please” resume hanging people found guilty of murder.
The call from security officer Gabriel Medford and others was for a more proactive Barbados Fire Service.
Medford was one of the volunteers who helped firefighters in trying to knock holes in the building to rescue the six.
He said the firemen were hampered by a lack of equipment that could create an opening at the back of the one-door establishment, but had an over-cautious approach that did not help their and the fire victims’ cause.
He told the SATURDAY SUN that “the window of opportunity” for saving the six females was small, but if firefighters had been able to create a “secondary entrance” through the back of the building quite early they would have met with some success.
Chief Fire Officer Wilfred Marshall had said that while the loss of life was tragic, the Fire Service had done all that it could.
According to Marshall, fire officers made repeated attempts to enter the building to reach the victims, but were forced to return each time.
He said the service did not have tools for boring through soft stone and “it was not a situation where we could call a contractor and tell them to drive through here [with a construction vehicle]”. (TY)
