Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 2 years ago
Millions of dollars went up in smoke on Thursday morning following a brazen firebombing attack on a car dealership in Central Trinidad.

It was the second case of suspected arson in the Central area, although not connected, in the past twenty four hours.

Mark Bassant has the story.
Transcript
00:00 The crackling sound of fire eating through several vehicles on the HSM Motors Limited
00:14 compound in Chase Village, Shagonas, early this morning in a suspected arson attack.
00:24 Investigators say the fire began around 3am and they will be relying on CCTV footage
00:29 in and around the area to see who were the perpetrators of this crime.
00:34 The owner of HSM Motors Limited, Mikhail Hussein, told TV6 News that he was certain it was a
00:40 deliberate attack based on CCTV footage and conversations his company had with fire officials.
00:47 On reviewing the footage, or even before reviewing the footage, the fire officers present were
00:53 able to say that it was definitely arson because of the nature of the fire and how it was spread
01:02 across the compound.
01:04 It was in multiple locations and there was no way for the fire to travel to those places
01:10 by itself.
01:11 When they checked the wood of the observatory, they determined there were 11 sources of ignition,
01:18 11 different places they were ignited and camera footage showed three individuals entering
01:25 the compound.
01:26 Hussein said he and his father rushed down to the compound and were able to remove several
01:30 of the cars from the location before the fire could spread further.
01:35 Fire officers from Shagonas who responded battled the flames frantically and were able
01:40 to extinguish the flames on the burning vehicles, which included a million dollar Tesla, within
01:44 half an hour.
01:46 Fourteen other vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz C63 estimated cost $850,000, Toyota Yaris
01:53 Cross SUVs, Honda Vezels, a Toyota Supra and several other Nissan vehicles were burned
01:58 to the ground.
01:59 Hussein said the estimated losses were in the millions, but said they were still in
02:03 the process of evaluating the exact amount, which included damage to two buildings.
02:09 This morning, Express photographer Jumin Crookshank captured these images of several high-end
02:13 vehicles being removed from the compound, as HSM announced in a statement on Facebook
02:20 that they are temporarily closed after what the company termed a "targeted arson attack".
02:26 Hussein dismisses speculation of his business being targeted due to extortion and said he
02:30 was baffled by this arson attack.
02:33 We have never had any experience like that.
02:36 Even our colleagues in the same industry, at least in our area, have never experienced
02:44 that sort of... from anyone.
02:49 So no, this is new and this is very strange.
02:52 Marc Besant, TV6 News.
02:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Be the first to comment
Add your comment