Bon Air res­i­dents broke down a bed­room door in a des­per­ate bid to save a 22-year-old woman who was trapped in­side her blaz­ing room yes­ter­day morn­ing. How­ev­er, they could not get to Ayan­na Samuels in time and she died in the fire which caused con­sid­er­able dam­age to the Nau­tilus Cir­cu­lar, Bon Air West, Arou­ca, home.

In­ves­ti­ga­tors have not yet de­ter­mined the cause of the fire. Short­ly af­ter 11 am, Samuels' moth­er be­gan to smell smoke com­ing from her daugh­ter's room. She rushed to the door but it was locked. She then sought help from neigh­bours to res­cue her daugh­ter but it was too late. Samuels was found ly­ing on the floor, a short dis­tance from her bed.

North­ern Di­vi­sion of­fi­cers in­clud­ing Supt Ramd­hanie, In­spec­tor Lawrence, Sgt Fi­garo and Cpl Re­my, along with CFO Bruce and FF Popo, vis­it­ed the scene. Of­fi­cers said res­i­dents were able to save the sin­gle-storey house and dam­age is es­ti­mat­ed at over $200,000. Po­lice said that they will have to await the re­sults of an au­top­sy to pro­ceed to their in­ves­ti­ga­tions. Cpl Re­my is con­tin­u­ing in­quiries.