The Guyana government Monday confirmed that the location of the MV Barima, which sunk after capsizing on Saturday night with more than 133 people on board.
“The potential location was identified at 13:31 hours (local time) today by fisherman Haresh Singh, who had earlier assisted in rescue efforts yesterday,” the brief government statement said, adding that “support from local fisherfolk, along with the privately owned vessel, Gilligan Island, has been of great assistance in confirming the location of the vessel”.
The statement said that “full recovery mode is being pursued” and that the French government has provided support in the form of 15 divers, who have since joined the local team of divers at the site.
“Bodies recovered will be taken to Charity for processing by health and police authorities. Relatives will be invited to identify the bodies at the Suddie Hospital,” the statement said.
Earlier, the government announced that the death toll from last weekend’s boating tragedy had risen to 10, after eight bodies were discovered on Monday.
“The identification process includes the involvement of relatives and will be done at the Suddie Hospital. The Government remains fully committed to the operation and continues to deploy all available resources to locate and account for every person who was aboard the MV Barima at the time of the tragic incident,” the brief statement added.
Tragedy struck on Saturday night when the MV Barima capsized after apparently being hit by a big wave as it made its way from Georgetown to Port Kaituma, a small village within the Barima-Waini administrative region of the country. The authorities said 67 people have so far been rescued.
The vessel’s captain and first engineer have been arrested after both tested positive for narcotics. The search operations continue for at least 70 other people still missing and feared dead with the authorities confirming that a number of individuals who were rescued were not listed on the vessel’s official manifest.
President Irfaan Ali,who cut short a visit to Canada on Sunday night, said he met on Monday with “our brothers and sisters who were rescued, as well as the families of those affected by the MV Barima tragedy.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill has dismissed claims that the MV Barima was unseaworthy, saying that the vessel was operating within its routine maintenance schedule and was due for planned dry docking later this year.