SURVIVORS and relatives of victims of the Costa Concordia shipwreck clamored for truth at a pre-trial hearing in Italy yesterday, with some still waiting for identification of the remains of their loved ones one-and-a-half months after the disaster.
The giant cruise liner capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio after hitting a rock on January 13, killing at least 25 people. Seven people are still unaccounted for, and eight of the bodies found have yet to be identified.
Prosecutors have accused captain Francesco Schettino of causing the accident by bringing the Costa Concordia, which was carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, too close to shore.
Eight other officers and executives of the ship's owner, Costa Cruises, are also under investigation.
"We want to know the truth, what happened, and what we are supposed to do now. That's all we are asking," said Hilaire Blemand, a French national whose 25-year-old son Michael was onboard the ship with his girlfriend Mylene Litzler, 23.
Both are still missing.
"It's been too long already, it's been six weeks," he said at the theater in the Tuscan city of Grosseto that has been turned into a makeshift courtroom.
The theater is expected to accommodate hundreds of victims' relatives, survivors and lawyers, but is not open to the general public or media.
Fighting back tears, Mylene's mother Brigitte Litzler said her anguish had deepened after identification of the bodies was suspended at the request of the lawyer for one of the ship's officers under investigation. He argued forensic experts from the defense team should be part of the process.
4 March 2012
http://www.shanghaidaily.org/article/print.asp?id=495813
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Around 200 dead in Congo Republic blasts - official
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo - Blasts rocked the capital of the Republic of Congo Sunday morning after a weapons depot caught fire, officials said, killing and wounding unknown numbers people and forcing 2,000 to flee their homes.
Around 200 people have been killed and many more injured in a series of explosions in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic, according to a senior official in the presidency, citing hospital sources.
"According to sources at the central hospital we're talking of around 200 dead and many injured," Betu Bangana, head of protocol in the president's office in Brazzaville, told Reuters by telephone.
Another explosion struck the area early in the afternoon, causing panic among those gathered there, including journalists.
The explosions shook houses in Brazzaville and echoed across the Congo River to the capital of the neighbouring country.
Didier Boutsindi of the presidential office said the explosions killed an untold number of people, including churchgoers who were killed in the debris of the collapsed building.
"Many of the faithful are trapped in the debris of the church," he said. "Several of the dead have been taken out and I confirm there are more deaths inside."
He said his uncle was killed when his home collapsed on him.
Other witnesses said the wounded may have included hundreds of Chinese workers were wounded.
Many buildings in the area had collapsed.
"It's like a tsunami passed through here," said Christine Ibata, a student.
Defence minister Charles Zacharie Boawo appeared on national television Sunday to urge calm in Brazzaville and in the neighbouring capital of Kinshasa.
"The explosions that you have heard don't mean there is a war or a coup d'etat," he said. "Nor does it mean there was a mutiny. It is an incident caused by a fire at the munitions depot. ... At this very moment our experts are there trying to extinguish this fire so this situation does not recur."
Witnesses said the explosions came from the north of the city and that the impact of the blasts threw open doors of houses in the city centre. The explosions also prompted some residents of the northern part of the city to flee south. Phone networks were quickly overloaded by calls.
The blasts were also heard in Kinshasa, the capital of neighbouring Congo. Government spokesman Lambert Mende said the blasts blew out some windows in the centre of town, but that there were no reported deaths and that the situation had returned to normal after the blasts.
The Republic of Congo is often overshadowed by its much larger neighbour, Congo
Sunday, March 04, 2012
http://www.globallethbridge.com/world/rep+of+congo+official+says+some+killed+by+blasts+in+capital+caused+by+munitions+depot+fire/6442593733/story.html
Around 200 people have been killed and many more injured in a series of explosions in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic, according to a senior official in the presidency, citing hospital sources.
"According to sources at the central hospital we're talking of around 200 dead and many injured," Betu Bangana, head of protocol in the president's office in Brazzaville, told Reuters by telephone.
Another explosion struck the area early in the afternoon, causing panic among those gathered there, including journalists.
The explosions shook houses in Brazzaville and echoed across the Congo River to the capital of the neighbouring country.
Didier Boutsindi of the presidential office said the explosions killed an untold number of people, including churchgoers who were killed in the debris of the collapsed building.
"Many of the faithful are trapped in the debris of the church," he said. "Several of the dead have been taken out and I confirm there are more deaths inside."
He said his uncle was killed when his home collapsed on him.
Other witnesses said the wounded may have included hundreds of Chinese workers were wounded.
Many buildings in the area had collapsed.
"It's like a tsunami passed through here," said Christine Ibata, a student.
Defence minister Charles Zacharie Boawo appeared on national television Sunday to urge calm in Brazzaville and in the neighbouring capital of Kinshasa.
"The explosions that you have heard don't mean there is a war or a coup d'etat," he said. "Nor does it mean there was a mutiny. It is an incident caused by a fire at the munitions depot. ... At this very moment our experts are there trying to extinguish this fire so this situation does not recur."
Witnesses said the explosions came from the north of the city and that the impact of the blasts threw open doors of houses in the city centre. The explosions also prompted some residents of the northern part of the city to flee south. Phone networks were quickly overloaded by calls.
The blasts were also heard in Kinshasa, the capital of neighbouring Congo. Government spokesman Lambert Mende said the blasts blew out some windows in the centre of town, but that there were no reported deaths and that the situation had returned to normal after the blasts.
The Republic of Congo is often overshadowed by its much larger neighbour, Congo
Sunday, March 04, 2012
http://www.globallethbridge.com/world/rep+of+congo+official+says+some+killed+by+blasts+in+capital+caused+by+munitions+depot+fire/6442593733/story.html
Fifteen killed and scores injured as two trains collide head-on in worst Polish rail disaster in living memory
Two trains running on the same track collided head-on in southern Poland last night, killing 15 people and leaving 56 injured.
The accident, which is the worst train disaster in Poland in more than 20 years, happened late last night on the Warsaw-Krakow mainline in the small town of Szczekociny.
As the severity of the crash became known army helicopters were deployed to the scene to race the most seriously injured to hospital while a fleet of 450 emergency vehicles, 100 policemen and dozens of volunteer firemen clawed at the wreckage.
Officials have said it is too early to say what had caused the crash and Polish prosecutors have opened an investigation into how the head-on collision happened.
The two mangled trains, comprising 10 carriages in total, were carrying an estimated 350 passengers at the time of the crash.
Several of the passengers were foreigners, including people from Ukraine, Spain and France, but none of them appeared to be among the dead or badly injured.
'The rescue is difficult and complicated,' firefighter Jaroslaw Wojtasik told Polish television.
'The damage to the wagons is huge. We have contact with victims. We are approaching very cautiously
Home News U.S. Sport TV&Showbiz Femail Health Science Money RightMinds Coffee Break Travel Columnists News Home Arts Headlines Pictures Most read News Board My Profile Logout Login Find a Job M&S Wine Our Papers Feedback Sunday, Mar 04 2012 12PM 7°C 3PM 3°C 5-Day Forecast Fifteen killed and scores injured as two trains collide head-on in worst Polish rail disaster in living memory
One of the trains was on the wrong side of the tracks on the Warsaw-Krakow mainline
Polish prosecutors have opened an investigation but officials have said it is too early to say what caused the crash
'Even more dramatic than the pictures are the facts' said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
By Jill Reilly
Last updated at 11:39 AM on 4th March 2012
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Two trains running on the same track collided head-on in southern Poland last night, killing 15 people and leaving 56 injured.
The accident, which is the worst train disaster in Poland in more than 20 years, happened late last night on the Warsaw-Krakow mainline in the small town of Szczekociny.
As the severity of the crash became known army helicopters were deployed to the scene to race the most seriously injured to hospital while a fleet of 450 emergency vehicles, 100 policemen and dozens of volunteer firemen clawed at the wreckage.
Tragic: Fifteen people were killed and up to 50 injured when the two trains collided head-on late last night on the Warsaw-Krakow mainline in the small town of Szczekociny
Head-on collision: The crash happened after one of the trains ended up on the wrong side of the tracks and army helicopters were deployed to the scene to race the most seriously injured to hospital
Mangled wreck: Three coaches are reported to be especially damaged, and the rescue operation focused on finding passengers there, although rescue workers ended their search for the wounded early this morning
Investigation: Officials have said it is too early to say what had caused the crash and Polish prosecutors have opened an investigation into how the head-on collision happened
Officials have said it is too early to say what had caused the crash and Polish prosecutors have opened an investigation into how the head-on collision happened.
The two mangled trains, comprising 10 carriages in total, were carrying an estimated 350 passengers at the time of the crash.
Several of the passengers were foreigners, including people from Ukraine, Spain and France, but none of them appeared to be among the dead or badly injured.
'The rescue is difficult and complicated,' firefighter Jaroslaw Wojtasik told Polish television.
'The damage to the wagons is huge. We have contact with victims. We are approaching very cautiously.'
Rescue effort: The two mangled trains, comprising 10 carriages in total, were carrying an estimated 350 passengers at the time of the crash
Shocking: Prime Minister Donald Tusk, left, called the accident the most tragic train catastrophe in Poland in recent years after visiting the site in the early hours of today as bodies were being retrieved from the wreckage
Surveying the damage: A fleet of 450 emergency vehicles, 100 policemen and dozens of volunteer firemen clawed at the wreckage
Three coaches are reported to be especially damaged, and the rescue operation focused on finding passengers there.
Rescue workers ended their search for the wounded and prosecutors opened their investigation early Sunday.
One passenger estimated that his train was travelling about 120km/h (75 mph), when it started braking very sharply.
'Then we felt a powerful impact, and we were thrown about the compartment,' the passenger told TVN24.
Andrzej Pawlowski, a member of the board of the state railway company PKP, said in an interview that one of the trains, which was traveling south from Warsaw to Krakow, should not have been on the track.
The other train, headed from the eastern city of Przemysl to Warsaw, was on the correct track, Mr Pawlowski said.
It wasn't immediately clear how the southbound train ended up on the wrong track.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the accident the most tragic train catastrophe in Poland in recent years after visiting the site in the early hours of today.
'Even more dramatic than the pictures are the facts,' Mr Tusk said. 'This is our most tragic train disaster in many, many years.'
He arrived at the scene early on Sunday morning, with three other cabinet ministers.
Maintenance work was being carried out on one of the tracks where the collision occurred.
4 March 2012
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2109981/Polish-train-crash-15-killed-2-trains-collide-head-worst-rail-disaster-living-memory.html#ixzz1o9dEThz0
Learn Morse code to help disaster victims, radio hams told
JOHOR BARU: Amateur radio enthusiasts should learn Morse code so that they can respond to emergencies better.
South Johor Amateur Bandwidth Radio Association patron Tunku Abdul Jalil Tunku Osman said such a skill was useful, especially during natural disasters.
“During the 2004 tsunami, the emergency response teams that were deployed to Aceh used Morse code to find victims as phone lines were damaged.
“In the major flood that hit Kota Tinggi and several other districts in the state, our members used two-way radios to help,” he said after attending the association’s annual general meeting here yesterday.
There are two categories for the amateur radio operator’s certificate: Class A and Class B from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
A ham radio operator needs a Class B licence to keep and operate a wireless radio.
“The Class A licence requires that the holder learns Morse code,” he said, adding that a higher frequency bandwidth which covers more areas is used.
4 March 2012
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/4/nation/10853414&sec=nation
South Johor Amateur Bandwidth Radio Association patron Tunku Abdul Jalil Tunku Osman said such a skill was useful, especially during natural disasters.
“During the 2004 tsunami, the emergency response teams that were deployed to Aceh used Morse code to find victims as phone lines were damaged.
“In the major flood that hit Kota Tinggi and several other districts in the state, our members used two-way radios to help,” he said after attending the association’s annual general meeting here yesterday.
There are two categories for the amateur radio operator’s certificate: Class A and Class B from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
A ham radio operator needs a Class B licence to keep and operate a wireless radio.
“The Class A licence requires that the holder learns Morse code,” he said, adding that a higher frequency bandwidth which covers more areas is used.
4 March 2012
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/4/nation/10853414&sec=nation
Southern Poland train crash leaves 14 dead
Two trains have collided in southern Poland, leaving 14 people dead, local officials say, and 50 hurt.
The accident occurred on Saturday evening on the Warsaw-Krakow mainline at the small town of Szczekociny, according to Polish TV.
Two express trains, one of which was on the wrong track, collided head-on, a senior railway official said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived at the scene early on Sunday morning, with three other cabinet ministers.
"This appears to be one of the most serious railway accidents in recent years," Transport Minister Slawomir Nowak told the TVN24 news channel.
Some passengers remain trapped in the wreckage, police say. Helicopter ambulances from Warsaw and Wroclaw are helping to take the injured to hospitals.
"The rescue is difficult and complicated," firefighter Jaroslaw Wojtasik told Polish television.
"The damage to the wagons is huge. We have contact with victims. We are approaching very cautiously."
Engineering works
The accident occurred at 21:15 (20:15 GMT), when a train travelling north from Przemysl to Warsaw collided with a southbound train from Warsaw to Krakow.
Scheduled engineering works were taking place on one track at Szczekociny station at the time of the accident.
The Krakow train was on the wrong track, Andrzej Pawlowski, a member of the board of the state railway company PKP, told the TV station TVN24.
Three coaches are reported to be especially damaged, and the rescue operation is focusing on finding passengers there.
The three coaches were "completely destroyed - like a concertina", one eyewitness told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.
Another passenger estimated that his train was travelling about 120km/h (75 mph), when it started braking very sharply.
"Then we felt a powerful impact, and we were thrown about the compartment," the passenger told TVN24.
4 March 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17248735
The accident occurred on Saturday evening on the Warsaw-Krakow mainline at the small town of Szczekociny, according to Polish TV.
Two express trains, one of which was on the wrong track, collided head-on, a senior railway official said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived at the scene early on Sunday morning, with three other cabinet ministers.
"This appears to be one of the most serious railway accidents in recent years," Transport Minister Slawomir Nowak told the TVN24 news channel.
Some passengers remain trapped in the wreckage, police say. Helicopter ambulances from Warsaw and Wroclaw are helping to take the injured to hospitals.
"The rescue is difficult and complicated," firefighter Jaroslaw Wojtasik told Polish television.
"The damage to the wagons is huge. We have contact with victims. We are approaching very cautiously."
Engineering works
The accident occurred at 21:15 (20:15 GMT), when a train travelling north from Przemysl to Warsaw collided with a southbound train from Warsaw to Krakow.
Scheduled engineering works were taking place on one track at Szczekociny station at the time of the accident.
The Krakow train was on the wrong track, Andrzej Pawlowski, a member of the board of the state railway company PKP, told the TV station TVN24.
Three coaches are reported to be especially damaged, and the rescue operation is focusing on finding passengers there.
The three coaches were "completely destroyed - like a concertina", one eyewitness told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.
Another passenger estimated that his train was travelling about 120km/h (75 mph), when it started braking very sharply.
"Then we felt a powerful impact, and we were thrown about the compartment," the passenger told TVN24.
4 March 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17248735
Guyana’s air and river transport disasters
…volumes of ‘cold cases’ as families still seek closure
Guyana compared to the rest of the countries in South America is small in size and in comparison to its sister Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries has a negligible transportation air and sea fleet. But it’s not without its fair share of air and river disasters.
In 2009 Prometheus Resources Guyana had a plane conducting aerial surveys as part of a mineral mapping programme.
That plane has disappeared along with its crew and despite valiant searches is yet to be found.
The following year the ‘Captain Sunil’ went down with its crewmembers in the Atlantic.
They included, 44-year-old Teserdeen Lochan, called ‘Paulin’ of Lot 70 Madewini, and brothers, Jairam Surujpaul, 42, and ‘Foman’ Surujpaul, of Lot Five Bladen Hall, East Coast Demerara.
Fortunately, the crew on this vessel was discovered two weeks later some 123 nautical miles from the location where the boat was believed to have met its ill fate.
The GDF Coast Guard had played an instrumental role in rescuing the fisherman.
In 2009, the cargo vessel, ‘Island Princess,’ and its crew went missing.
The bodies of its captain, Titus Buckley Nascimento, 46, and the engineer, 25-year-old engineer Mahendra Singh, were found at Zeelandia, Wakenaam, and on the Hamburg Island seashore respectively.
A third body, identified as that of 23-year-old Ryan Chin, was found near the Queenstown, Essequibo foreshore.
All the bodies were degutted and bore bullet wounds. Still missing is 46-year-old crewman Rickford Bannister.
The vessel was found some time later off the cost of Grenada.
Piracy has also been one of the key problems facing local fishermen with dozens being murdered while at sea.
The bullet-riddled bodies of the slain have washed up from as far away as the Pomeroon to the Corentyne.
Some of the victims have never been found and most of the perpetrators remain at large and seem not to be fazed by the July 2008 introduction of the Hijacking and Piracy Bill that prescribes the death penalty.
On October 12, 2007, a fishing trawler, the Captain Jewel, with its six-man crew, departed from the Meadowbank wharf, with the intention of fishing between Guyana and Suriname.
But after setting sail, the vessel and crew disappeared.
In late October, the decomposed bodies of three of the crew were found in the Corentyne River.
It was clear that they had been murdered, since two of the dead men were bound hands and feet.
The victims were identified as Patrick Parboo, 20, the captain, Mahendra Gangadin, called ‘Bready’ of Annandale Sand Reef, both of East Coast Demerara and 29-year-old Mark Sylvester Persram, called ‘Buddy’ of Good Hope, East Coast Demerara.
Still missing are the captain’s 20-year-old brother, Navinda Gangadin, called ‘Dar’, Davindra Persaud, 21 and Christopher Rooplall, 20.
The ill-fated Captain Jewel has never been found.
In December 2007, the bodies of three Guyanese men, Paul Da Silva, Rudolph Da Silva and Junior Gomez, were found in Suriname after they had left for a trip to Venezuela, where they had operated a passenger boat service earlier that month.
The killers were never identified.
In March, 2009, the bullet-riddled bodies of Romeo De Agrella, 41, and his son, Clint De Agrella, 21, of Grant Hope, Pomeroon, were found at Shell Beach in the Barima-Waini Region.
Their boat, which also bore bullet holes, was also found, but the vessel’s 250 hp engine was missing.
The two men were reportedly slain while heading home from a trip to Venezuela.
Romeo De Agrella was the uncle of Rudolph Da Silva, one of the three men who turned up dead in Suriname waters in 2007.
According to local police officials, the killings were believed to be drug-related.
Police have since charged Jerome Parkes, a 24-year-old dredge owner of the Lower Pomeroon, Tyrone Da Silva and Lloyd Roberts with the murder of the De Agrellas.
In June, 2009, Fazal Hoosain, a well-known businessman from Number 69 Village, Corentyne, was travelling with other passengers in a Suriname ‘back-track’ vessel when five masked men with rifles and handguns approached.
After firing warning shots to force the passenger boat to stop, some of the gunmen boarded the boat, disabled its engine and relieved the passengers of their cell phones.
They then forced Hoosain, who was reportedly carrying millions in cash, to accompany them in their boat. Hours later, the crew of a fishing vessel found Hoosain’s bound and battered body in the Corentyne River.
Police detained three men for Hoosain’s murder, but they were never charged.
On August 11, 2009, Jainarine Dinanauth, his 10-year-old son Ricky, and boat captain Henry Gibson were heading to Hogg Island when their boat was reportedly struck by another vessel.
Dinanauth and Gibson’s bodies were found drifting in the damaged boat just off the eastern side of Hog Island.
However, ten-year-old Ricky Dinanauth’s body has not been found.
There is suspicion that their vessel was rammed by a Coast Guard vessel. Green paint that was suspected to have come from a Coast Guard vessel of similar colour was also found on the wreck.
That suspicion escalated when three Coast Guard ranks were implicated in the abduction and murder of 24-year-old Bartica resident Dweive Kant Ramdass.
On August 20, 2009, Ramdass, who was employed with a gold and diamond buyer, was travelling to Bartica with $17M in cash for his employer when the ranks allegedly took him off the vessel in the vicinity of the Parika Stelling. After relieving their victim of the cash, the Coast Guard ranks allegedly killed Ramdass and dumped him in the Bonasika Creek.
The Guyana Defence Force subsequently mounted an investigation into the possible involvement of Coast Guard ranks and the Hog Island crash.
However, the army has since stated that its findings were inconclusive, while the Guyana Police Force is still to complete forensic tests on the two vessels.
3 March 2012
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/03/03/guyana%E2%80%99s-air-and-river-transport-disasters/
Guyana compared to the rest of the countries in South America is small in size and in comparison to its sister Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries has a negligible transportation air and sea fleet. But it’s not without its fair share of air and river disasters.
In 2009 Prometheus Resources Guyana had a plane conducting aerial surveys as part of a mineral mapping programme.
That plane has disappeared along with its crew and despite valiant searches is yet to be found.
The following year the ‘Captain Sunil’ went down with its crewmembers in the Atlantic.
They included, 44-year-old Teserdeen Lochan, called ‘Paulin’ of Lot 70 Madewini, and brothers, Jairam Surujpaul, 42, and ‘Foman’ Surujpaul, of Lot Five Bladen Hall, East Coast Demerara.
Fortunately, the crew on this vessel was discovered two weeks later some 123 nautical miles from the location where the boat was believed to have met its ill fate.
The GDF Coast Guard had played an instrumental role in rescuing the fisherman.
In 2009, the cargo vessel, ‘Island Princess,’ and its crew went missing.
The bodies of its captain, Titus Buckley Nascimento, 46, and the engineer, 25-year-old engineer Mahendra Singh, were found at Zeelandia, Wakenaam, and on the Hamburg Island seashore respectively.
A third body, identified as that of 23-year-old Ryan Chin, was found near the Queenstown, Essequibo foreshore.
All the bodies were degutted and bore bullet wounds. Still missing is 46-year-old crewman Rickford Bannister.
The vessel was found some time later off the cost of Grenada.
Piracy has also been one of the key problems facing local fishermen with dozens being murdered while at sea.
The bullet-riddled bodies of the slain have washed up from as far away as the Pomeroon to the Corentyne.
Some of the victims have never been found and most of the perpetrators remain at large and seem not to be fazed by the July 2008 introduction of the Hijacking and Piracy Bill that prescribes the death penalty.
On October 12, 2007, a fishing trawler, the Captain Jewel, with its six-man crew, departed from the Meadowbank wharf, with the intention of fishing between Guyana and Suriname.
But after setting sail, the vessel and crew disappeared.
In late October, the decomposed bodies of three of the crew were found in the Corentyne River.
It was clear that they had been murdered, since two of the dead men were bound hands and feet.
The victims were identified as Patrick Parboo, 20, the captain, Mahendra Gangadin, called ‘Bready’ of Annandale Sand Reef, both of East Coast Demerara and 29-year-old Mark Sylvester Persram, called ‘Buddy’ of Good Hope, East Coast Demerara.
Still missing are the captain’s 20-year-old brother, Navinda Gangadin, called ‘Dar’, Davindra Persaud, 21 and Christopher Rooplall, 20.
The ill-fated Captain Jewel has never been found.
In December 2007, the bodies of three Guyanese men, Paul Da Silva, Rudolph Da Silva and Junior Gomez, were found in Suriname after they had left for a trip to Venezuela, where they had operated a passenger boat service earlier that month.
The killers were never identified.
In March, 2009, the bullet-riddled bodies of Romeo De Agrella, 41, and his son, Clint De Agrella, 21, of Grant Hope, Pomeroon, were found at Shell Beach in the Barima-Waini Region.
Their boat, which also bore bullet holes, was also found, but the vessel’s 250 hp engine was missing.
The two men were reportedly slain while heading home from a trip to Venezuela.
Romeo De Agrella was the uncle of Rudolph Da Silva, one of the three men who turned up dead in Suriname waters in 2007.
According to local police officials, the killings were believed to be drug-related.
Police have since charged Jerome Parkes, a 24-year-old dredge owner of the Lower Pomeroon, Tyrone Da Silva and Lloyd Roberts with the murder of the De Agrellas.
In June, 2009, Fazal Hoosain, a well-known businessman from Number 69 Village, Corentyne, was travelling with other passengers in a Suriname ‘back-track’ vessel when five masked men with rifles and handguns approached.
After firing warning shots to force the passenger boat to stop, some of the gunmen boarded the boat, disabled its engine and relieved the passengers of their cell phones.
They then forced Hoosain, who was reportedly carrying millions in cash, to accompany them in their boat. Hours later, the crew of a fishing vessel found Hoosain’s bound and battered body in the Corentyne River.
Police detained three men for Hoosain’s murder, but they were never charged.
On August 11, 2009, Jainarine Dinanauth, his 10-year-old son Ricky, and boat captain Henry Gibson were heading to Hogg Island when their boat was reportedly struck by another vessel.
Dinanauth and Gibson’s bodies were found drifting in the damaged boat just off the eastern side of Hog Island.
However, ten-year-old Ricky Dinanauth’s body has not been found.
There is suspicion that their vessel was rammed by a Coast Guard vessel. Green paint that was suspected to have come from a Coast Guard vessel of similar colour was also found on the wreck.
That suspicion escalated when three Coast Guard ranks were implicated in the abduction and murder of 24-year-old Bartica resident Dweive Kant Ramdass.
On August 20, 2009, Ramdass, who was employed with a gold and diamond buyer, was travelling to Bartica with $17M in cash for his employer when the ranks allegedly took him off the vessel in the vicinity of the Parika Stelling. After relieving their victim of the cash, the Coast Guard ranks allegedly killed Ramdass and dumped him in the Bonasika Creek.
The Guyana Defence Force subsequently mounted an investigation into the possible involvement of Coast Guard ranks and the Hog Island crash.
However, the army has since stated that its findings were inconclusive, while the Guyana Police Force is still to complete forensic tests on the two vessels.
3 March 2012
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/03/03/guyana%E2%80%99s-air-and-river-transport-disasters/