53 bodies recovered; rescue count revised to 76

As search efforts continue following Saturday night’s capsizing of the MV Barima, authorities Wednesday night reported that 53 bodies have been recovered while the rescue count has been revised to 76.

This update was provided by Prime Minister Mark Phillips during a press conference at his Camp Street, Georgetown office.

He noted that of the bodies recovered, 26 have been positively identified by relatives, with 11 of them being repatriated to their respective communities for funeral arrangements, as requested by families.
“Many of this work is being done through the regional authorities. Wakes, funerals, all of these activities are supported financially and otherwise in keeping with the wishes of the family,” he said, noting that this includes adhering to religious rituals as requested by families.

“We will work right through to the end to bring closure to every family member who would have lost a loved one,” PM Phillips added.

Of the bodies identified, eight are males, three are females while 15 are children (four males and 11 females). Of those that remain unidentified, three are children.

The Prime Minister noted that there is enough storage space to accommodate the bodies as they are being recovered, with four refrigerated containers being used to bolster the capacities of the nearby hospitals.

“The plan is, as we recover bodies, we identify, we do the postmortem, and we hand over as early as possible to the families for the funeral arrangement. So that storage capacity…is capable of holding the bodies in the interim as we move to the next stage which is handing over the bodies to the families,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the government had earlier in the day clarified via a statement that the increase of rescued persons does not reflect any new rescues.

It explained that the adjustment mainly resulted from information being received from several different sources. “As that information came in it was carefully reviewed and verified it to eliminate any duplication and provide a more accurate account of the number of persons rescued,” the statement noted.

During the press conference, PM Phillips explained that divers conducted a search of the wreckage underwater and it was determined that “unfortunately, after searching the wreckage, nobody’s alive there”.

However, he disclosed that one body was identified but the divers were unable to recover it as of 18:00hrs Wednesday. “This is an ongoing exercise, more divers will go down…with more equipment and it is our hope that we reach to a point where we can safely extract…the body from the vessel,” PM Phillips noted.

Upon the conclusion of the search and rescue/recovery operation, PM Phillips noted that authorities will determine whether to retrieve the vessel from the seabed.