Trini teenager dies after father sets house ablaze

Port of Spain, Trinidad (CMC) — A teenager succumbed to his injures only hours after his father set fire to the family house in Gasparillo, a town south of here.

Seventeen-year-old Jelani Joseph died on Saturday following a fire set by his father, Christo¬pher Joseph, who also perished in the blaze. The police report that the elder Joseph, 40, was unable to cope with a separation from his wife.

It is suspected that the father poured an inflammable substance on himself and his two sons, Jelani and Josiah, before setting the house on fire.

The brothers were able to jump through a window of the house but Jelani did not survive the ordeal.

He was pronounced dead at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Josiah, who suffered burns to his legs, was admitted to the San Fernando General Hospital in serious condition.

The charred remains of the father were found under the rubble of the family’s home by fire officers.