Toronto: As per media reports the Sikh family-owned motel in Canada has been gutted in a fire that claimed one life while injuring three others as the police discovered racist graffiti on the property, raising suspicions of foul play in the incident.
Neighbours reported hearing an explosion and watched flames destroy the Tiwana family-owned Bashaw Motor Inn in the Canadian province of Alberta.
Residents in the town of 870 people have rallied around the concerned family, who lived in and operated the motel. More than $8,000 has been raised over two days in a fundraising campaign for the family.
Faisal Madi, a neighbour, told CBC News that he would never forget the booming sound of the explosion the night of the deadly Bashaw fire last Sunday or the chilling screams that followed.
Living only metres away, he was at the motel in less than a minute where he found the mother and two sons of the Tiwana family outside the front door.
Sikh family motel gutted in Canada
“Two of them were laying on the ground. One was standing. I tried to pull them away from the fire,” Madi said, explaining that all three appeared to have been badly burned.
According to a news reported in The Tribune (TT) both boys were screaming for their father who they said was still inside, he said. Madi called 911 after ensuring the boys and their mother were safe.
The father could not be located, leading to the belief that the remains of one person found at the site could be his. The results of an autopsy, not yet released, will confirm the identity of the deceased and the cause of death.
The police said there was “graffiti damage to property” at the scene of the fire. However, police said the investigators had no evidence to suggest that the fire and the graffiti were linked.