Phone call brings bad news

Neisha Cave (with eyes closed) mourning the loss of best friend Kelly-Ann Welch at the latter’s home yesterday.

By Maria Bradshaw | Sun, September 05, 2010 - 12:27 AM

WHEN NEISHA CAVE received the chilling cellphone call from her best friend Kelly-Ann Welch that the store she was shopping in was being robbed, Neisha instinctively ran from Swan Street to nearby Tudor Street to ensure her friend was okay.

But when she arrived at the scene of the crime, she was shocked to find the store, Campus Trendz, on fire; her friend nowhere in sight. Sadly, Kelly-Ann, 24, was one of six people to perish in the inferno after robbers set the store on fire.

Yesterday, a grief-stricken Neisha was still trying to come to grips with the unforgettable call and the death of her friend.

“I got there in two minutes after she called me; only two minutes,” she said sobbing. “All I see was the store on fire. This woman run out and fell down in front of me and held onto my feet and told me to help her. She did not even know that she was bleeding.

“I called Kelly-Ann on my cellphone and it went straight to voicemail. I even try to get into the store, but the heat was too much.

“I was hoping and praying that she was safe in the dressing room,” the 20-year-old cried as she sat on the floor of Kelly-Ann’s family home at Montrose in Christ Church yesterday morning, surrounded by family members of the deceased.

The young woman tearfully said that she and Kelly-Ann were going to a fete on Friday night and Kelly-Ann was in Bridgetown shopping for a pearl necklace.

Neisha, who was also in town, said her friend called and told her she had found the necklace at Gateway Mall on Tudor Street.

“She went there to buy the pearls. I had told her that I had bought my dress from Campus Trendz; so I was surprised when she called me and told me that she was in Campus Trendz, because she had an outfit to wear.”

Neisha said Kelly-Ann was whispering when she told her: “This store like it getting rob.”

“I tell she that I was on my way and that was the last thing I heard from her,” Neisha said.

She described Kelly-Ann as a “big sister” to her and someone who was outspoken but friendly.

“People said she was hard, but underneath she was very nice and friendly.”

Neisha also expressed dissappointment with how she was treated on the scene by police when she tried to tell them that her best friend was in the store.

“They ignored me and kept telling me to step back – nobody would listen to me. I was trying to tell them that a customer was in the store,” she cried as she added that she did not know at that time that her friend Tiffany, who was also her brother’s girlfriend, was in the store with Kelly-Ann.

Share your thoughts

Please sign in or register to post your comments.

Page 1 of 1 pages

Posted by YOGI NI 1 year, 5 months ago: This experience has taught us a great lesson, that lesson is, our emergency personnel is not ready for a lot of situations.If that was only a two story building and those six people die what does that say to us? I hope that this will help us to improve our response time, and have the equipment and tools to deal with these emergencies. There must be a full investigation into why those six persons died.

I Like
I Dislike

Comment Link

Posted by Win Down 1 year, 5 months ago: Could the lives of these six young women been saved?
Was there a scene commander at the incident?
When did he or she become aware that there were persons trapped in the building?
Did the apparent ignoring by the police of those persons on the scene who were talking to those trapped delay notification of the authorities?
Did the scene commander or a representative at any time speak to the victims in the building?
Is it possible that if the persons who had them on the phone were given access, the victims could have talked into taking some actions to prolong their survival time while an organised rescue effort was mounted?
When did the fire service realise that this was a rescue situation?
Was any special equipment brought in to attempt force entry through a wall?
Were any of the firemen equipped with close proximity fire suits?
Heart broken