| Desperate cries for help, dead bodies, and the headless remains of fellow inmates are some of the chillingInmate Steve Bacchusscenarios which occurred during the deadly March 3rd fire at the Camp Street Prisons, and were yesterday recounted by an inmate.This account of the event was given to the Commission of Inquiry (COI) established into the fatal incident yesterday as Steve Bacchus, an inmate of old Capital block at the Camp Street Prison testified.Seventeen prisoners were killed and several injured after the fire broke out at Capital ‘A’ of Georgetown Prisons. Bacchus is currently serving a two-year sentence for robbery. The witness had previously submitted a statement on the matter.In his evidence yesterday, Bacchus told the panel of Commissioners – former Justice James Patterson, former Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine and human rights activist Merle Mendonca – that when the fire broke out, he was in the block (the old Capital Building) of the Camp Street relaxing. The prisoner recalled hearing his fellow inmates yelling “leave the man alone.”The noise, he said, was coming from the prison yard. The witness recounted that he ran towards the back of the building, and peered outside. He said that he saw a prisoner, Collis Collision, being assaulted in the yard of the State Penitentiary by Prison officers.The witness stated that prison officers along with at least four police officers had been standing in the middle of the tarmac. He said that some of the officers were armed. According to Bacchus, one of the prison officers shouted “lock the door and come out.” Bacchus said that moments later the disaster quickly unfolded. He told Counsel for the Commission, Excellence Dazzell, that within minutes he saw thick black smoke emanating from the adjacent building. The black smoke, he said, quickly made its way to his block.At that point,NFL Jerseys Cheap, he recalled that prisoners started to yell, “y’all open the door! Help we!”The witness told the commission that the inmates called repeatedly for help, but it was to no avail. He said that as the smoke continued to flood his section of the prison, those who were locked up with him began to call for help also. Their cries went unanswered.Although it was a situation to panic, the prisoner said that one of the inmates from his cell brought “a big wood” they used it to stamp and hit the wall in an effort to break it and escape the impending danger.After a few minutes, the witness related that they managed to break the wall and crawl outside. He said that his first thoughts were to assist his friends who were locked in the other section of the prison where the fire had been raging.Bacchus told the Commission that as he approached the Capital A, he saw some of the prisoners standing at the door; they were panting for breath.The witness said that he quickly ran to the front of the compound and alerted the Prison officers.“Dey got people alive in the building,” Bacchus recalled telling the officers. The prisoner said that at this point, “Officer Crawford grab his keys and rush to Capital A”. According to Bacchus, Officer Crawford attempted to open the door of the building, but he was unsuccessful. They eventually formed a bucket brigade to quench the heat of the door and then used an object to pry it open.He said too that once the doors were open he and his other colleagues assisted to rescue the prisoners inside the building.“We wet we skin and put wet jerseys over we face to go inside, because the building was too hot.”The convict said that none of the officers joined them on the rescue operation.The witness recounted that those inmates who could have walked did so, but the others had to be carried out of the cell. He said that there were some who were carried out, placed on stretchers, and taken away in ambulances.At the back of the Unit there were those who perished in the fire. He assisted with removing their remains.While under cross examination by attorney representing the Police and the Prison Service at the CoI, Selwyn Pieters, the witness later detailed removing several badly burnt bodies from Capital A, before handing them over to officials.According to the witness, some of the bodies were recovered in the washroom and toilet areas. He recalled that “One was in the toilet. One was in the bathroom – Rudolph Marks was in the bathroom.”At one point, Bacchus said that while giving assistance he saw the “skull” of an inmate on a bed by itself. Further questioned by the lawyer, Bacchus revealed that one of the bodies found after the fire was indeed headless. |
