‘We’re all alive, that’s what matters’: Dozens escape fire that destroyed Charlottetown apartment building [Video]

Dozens of residents escaped an apartment building fire in northeast Charlottetown overnight Monday that left their homes destroyed, their nerves shattered and their belongings in a pile of charred rubble.

The 20-unit building at 6 Elena Court, near the intersection of the bypass highway and St. Peters Road in East Royalty, had about 40 people living in it. 

“We were outside for the whole night, traumatized,” said Shaw Kaushik, an international student at UPEI who lived in the building. 

“My phone’s inside, my laptop’s inside, my cash, my credit card, my car keys. Everything’s inside, so I don’t know what to do right now.”

Charlottetown deputy fire chief Kent Mitchell said fire alarms in the building went off at around 12:40 a.m. The blaze took …