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LIAT tries to recover from fire as Dominica pledges funding
By The TDN Wire Staff
June 13, 2012 7:30 A.M.
LIAT hangar No 5 went up in flames on Sunday. |
St Johns, Antigua (TDN) -- Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has paid a visit to the LIAT headquarters following the destruction caused by the fire on Sunday night.
According to LIAT’s Corporate Communications Manager Desmond Brown the cause of the fire has not yet been determined “and while initial data shows significant damage, a thorough assessment is continuing to determine the full extent of the losses.”
On Sunday, around 10:15 pm, a fire that lasted over three hours completely destroyed a LIAT Dash 8 passenger aircraft, a hangar and two office buildings operated by the airline.
Losses include documents that chronicle the history of the aircraft from their date of purchase and other vital information. There were no injuries or loss of life as a result of the incident.
Spencer, was quoted as saying that “it is going to be very important for whatever measures have to be taken to get LIAT fully functional again, especially when it comes to its maintenance and other activities, and every effort should be made to do that.
“It is a most unfortunate development. What I am happy about is that there were no injuries in this. But the extent of the damage is clearly a major one and it is going to have some effect on LIAT going forward,” he stated.
News of the fire comes as Dominica’s prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit reported that his country will pump money into the regional carrier to join Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua & Barbuda as shareholders.
Skerrit indicated that the money for LIAT could be made available as early as next week. Meanwhile, St Lucian prime minister Kenny Anthony has indicated an interest in following Dominica’s lead.
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