In a shocking early morning incident in Guyana’s East Ruimveldt neighborhood on Sunday, a 56-year-old real estate agent has suffered life-threatening burns following a gas cylinder explosion that collapsed part of his family’s home, law enforcement officials confirmed.
The Guyana Police Force identified the injured man as Troy Alleyne, who was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) immediately after the blast. As of Sunday evening, his condition remained listed as critical.
According to official police accounts, the incident unfolded just after 2:30 a.m. at the intersection of Pineapple Street and Front Road. The chain of events began when Alleyne’s wife woke in the night and detected a strong odor consistent with leaking gas. She quickly alerted her husband, who left the family’s living quarters to go out into the yard and inspect a 100-pound propane gas cylinder that was stored on the property.
Roughly two minutes after Alleyne headed out to conduct his inspection, neighbors and family members heard a deafening explosion, followed immediately by screams for help. The blast damaged the eastern section of the residential building, causing that portion of the structure to collapse and ignite a structural fire.
Local fire crews were dispatched to the scene promptly, and firefighters successfully brought the blaze under control and extinguished it before the fire could spread to the rest of the property or adjacent homes. Once the fire was fully contained, law enforcement investigators arrived to process the explosion site and collect preliminary evidence.
As investigations into the cause of the leak and subsequent explosion continue, police confirmed they plan to review footage from closed-circuit security cameras installed in the surrounding area to gain more clarity on what led to the incident. No other family members or bystanders were reported injured in the blast, according to initial official updates.