Labasa family lives in fear

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Jeetendra Prasad infront of his house, damaged by fire on Thursday night. Picture SERAFINA SILAITOGA

A LABASA man claims he had to rush his family out of his house after a relative allegedly set fire to the home while they were inside.

Jeetendra Prasad of Batinikama, Labasa claimed his family was living in fear because of the fire and the events that led to the blaze.

Mr Prasad claimed he saw his relative allegedly set the house on fire.

He said there had been issues between them for some time.

Mr Prasad said about 9pm on Thursday, he met his relative on the verandah of his house.

“He had a gallon of benzene in his hand and a box of matches and he told me that he was coming to burn my house,” he claimed.

“I called the police and when he heard me talking to the cops, he spilled the benzene inside our house and set the house on fire.

“My family and I witnessed this. “I had to take my family members out the back door including my elderly mother and we ran to the roadside to ask for help.

“We have had some family problems but this is too much to take in and it’s like watching a movie.”

The National Fire Authority (NFA) confirmed they attended to the incident after being alerted by Mr Prasad at 9.42pm.

“Access to the property was through a feeder road and despite some difficult road conditions, the fire crew reached the scene and found the wooden and corrugated iron house partially on fire,” NFA said in a release.

“The fire crew then quickly used one delivery of water from their fire truck to extinguish the fire and managed to save the kitchen area of the house.

“The firefighters also managed to save a 1.5 Toyota Hybrid vehicle parked approximately seven metres from the house.”

Police confirmed they had a suspect in custody and had taken the accused to the Labasa Hospital on Thursday night.

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