The last missing victim was found Saturday. Six people died after two pleasure craft collided on Nov. 8.
The search after the Chaguaramas boating collision ended Saturday when the body of Lorenzo Oliver, the last of six people reported missing, was found near the shoreline after six days of searching by the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and volunteer teams.
Oliver, 35, of Carenage, was found floating near Power Boats Ltd in Chaguaramas, according to the Trinidad Express. Members of the Hunters Search and Rescue Team were already searching when the Coast Guard called to say a body had been spotted. Coast Guard personnel retrieved it and took it to the Forensic Science Centre for identification and examination.
What happened in the Chaguaramas boating collision
Two pleasure craft collided near Point Cannings, Chaguaramas, around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, the Express reported. The impact caused extensive damage to one of the vessels and several passengers were thrown into the water. A total of 26 people were injured and six were reported missing.
According to a police report cited by CNC3, the 28-foot pleasure craft was captained by a 44-year-old man of Federation Park, while the 29-foot vessel was operated by a 35-year-old resident of Point Cumana. Police have not publicly released further details of how the collision happened, and the investigation is continuing.
Six bodies recovered over three days
The Express reported that the first body recovered was that of Anil Ahyee, 35, found near the Coast Guard headquarters at Staubles Bay around 9 a.m. on Thursday. Around 10:30 p.m. that night, the body of Ameer Mohammed, 18, was found in waters off Scotland Bay.
On Friday, Coast Guard personnel recovered the body of Titus Augustine, 25, near Gasparee Island shortly before 6 a.m. About 10:30 a.m., members of the Hunters Search and Rescue Team, led by Vallence Rambharat, found the body of Kieyanna Seechan, 17. Jaheem Richards, 23, was recovered by the Coast Guard around 1:50 p.m. near Cannings Point, close to where the vessels collided.
The recovery of Oliver on Saturday left no one unaccounted for.
Families mourn
Relatives spent days gathered at the Chaquacabana Beach Resort awaiting news. Seechan’s aunt, Dixie-Ann Phillip, described her as a loving, respectful and caring young woman. Seechan worked as a clerical assistant at St Peter’s RC Primary School in Carenage under the On-the-Job Training programme, hoped to become a teacher and was studying at ROYTEC in the evenings. Her family had begun planning her 18th birthday celebration for Dec. 9.
Asked what justice would look like, Phillip said that because lives had been lost, there was no justice for that. She said the families wanted closure and were trying to find a way forward.
Residents of Point Cumana, Carenage, held a vigil earlier in the week for Seechan, Mohammed and Ahyee. On Friday evening, hours before Oliver’s body was found, residents of Carenage and Chaguaramas held another vigil for him, CNC3 reported. A minister in the Housing Ministry visited and offered condolences, the station said. The Ministry of Public Utilities also paid tribute to Seechan as a valued member of its On-the-Job Training family.
Lawyer reports death threats
Senior Counsel Faris Al-Rawi, who represents people connected with one of the vessels, said on Saturday that his clients and relatives have received death threats, including against a teenager, and that the threats have been reported to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. He said his clients have not left the country, as some people have claimed, and are cooperating with police.
Al-Rawi said his clients have given several statements and have handed over devices and records containing GPS coordinates and other information relevant to the investigation. He said the vessel remains in the possession of the Coast Guard at Staubles Bay.
Al-Rawi also addressed claims circulating publicly that a minor was involved in operating one of the vessels. He said those claims are untrue, that no child was involved in managing the craft at any point, and that he could say no more because the investigation is ongoing. He said communication to the public must be careful because speculation in an environment of death threats is dangerous. He added that threatening children is a breach of the Children’s Act.
What happens next
Al-Rawi said his clients want a full and cooperative investigation so that the families of those who died can learn the facts and responsibility can be established. The Coast Guard and police have not said when the investigation will conclude or whether anyone will be charged.