A 60-year-old paraplegic man who once worked in the Republic of Guinea embassy was found dead after a fire broke out in his Queens house Thursday night, officials and family members said.
The blaze started at about 10 p.m. in the basement of a one-story house on E. Hampton Blvd. at 56th Ave. in Bayside, an FDNY spokesman said.
Firefighters took about 45 minute to bring the flames under control.
They found Cheick Sylla, 60, dead in the basement, apparently overcome by smoke, said FDNY sources and Sylla’s relatives.
“He was in a wheelchair. That’s why he couldn’t get out,” his son, Abdul Sylla, 25, told the Daily News.
His son sobbed and wrapped himself in a blanket as his dad’s ex-wife comforted him. She said Sylla lost his legs to diabetes.
“He was a good and loving man. He sacrificed a lot to take care of us,” Abdul Sylla said.
Sylla lived in the Queens home with six relatives. Two of his sons were home with him when the fire broke out in his basement bedroom, another son said.
“The whole room was engulfed in flames. There are gas pipes down there,” said the other son, who didn’t give his name. “I thought the whole house was going to blow. I thought we were dead.”
The two sons frantically tried in vain to put out the flames with a hose, family members said.
Fire marshals are investigating what caused the blaze.
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