Trinidad Express- Four more bodies have been recovered following last Sunday’s fatal boating collision in Chaguaramas.
For those gathered waiting for their loved ones’ bodies to be recovered yesterday, it was a mix of relief that they had been found, and sadness that the miracle they had been praying for did not come true.
On Thursday morning the recoveries began and by 1.30 p.m. yesterday, five of the six missing people had been found.
Those recovered were:
• Anil Ahyee, 35;
• Kieyanna Seechan, 17;
• Ameer Mohammed, 18;
• Titus Augustine, 25;
• Jaheem Richards, 23.
Still unaccounted for up to yesterday was 35-year-old Lorenzo Oliver, from Carenage.
The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard said searches continued into last night and were expected to continue today.
The first to be found was Anil Ahyee, whose body was recovered near the Coast Guard headquarters at Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas, around 9 a.m. on Thursday.
On Thursday night the body of Mohammed was found around 10.30 p.m. in waters off Scotland Bay.
Shortly before 6 a.m. yesterday, Coast Guard personnel recovered Augustine’s body near Gasparee Island.
At approximately 10.30 a.m., Seechan’s body was found by members of the Hunters Search and Rescue Team, led by Vallence Rambharat; while the Coast Guard recovered Richards’ body around 1.50 p.m. near Cannings Point, close to the area where two boats collided on Sunday evening.
The Express revisited the Chaquacabana Beach Resort car park where relatives of the six people gathered daily, anxiously awaiting news.
Many of those gathered at the resort were from Carenage, where three of the recovered victims lived.
While Seechan’s parents were nearby yesterday, they appeared too distraught to speak.
Her aunt, Dixie-Ann Phillip, spoke to the media.
She said, “Kieyanna Seechan was the child anybody would want. Very respectable, loving, understanding. She was caring and honest, and when she put her mind to something she did it,” she said.
Phillip said her niece had a bright future ahead of her and many plans for her life.
“Kieyanna’s future was so bright and she had so much plans because if you guys had gotten to know her, allyuh would have cried a lot just like me,” she said.
Seechan worked as a clerical assistant at St Peter’s RC School in Carenage under the On the Job Training (OJT) programme and had hoped to pursue a career in teaching.
“She loved being around the children because they made her happy. So she was, you know, doing her stuff during the day in the school, and then she would go to ROYTEC in the evenings because she was furthering her studies,” Phillip said.
She explained that the family had already begun making plans for Seechan’s 18th birthday on December 9.
Phillip said the celebration “would have been awesome”.
“And that is what she had deserved. Because she had never failed us yet. Never disappointed,” she said of the St Francois Girls’ College graduate.
Earlier this week Pt Cumana, Carenage residents held a vigil for her safe return and that of Ameer Mohammed and Anil Ahyee, both from Carenage. Yesterday, the Ministry of Public Utilities paid tribute to her as a valued member of the On the Job Training (OJT) family.
“Kieyanna was a valued member of the OJT family serving as a clerical assistant at St Peter’s RC Primary School in Carenage,” it said. “Throughout the search, the Ministry and OJT remained in prayer and hoped for her safe return.”
Tributes were also paid to her yesterday at her alma mater, St Francois Girls’ College.
‘What do you call justice?’
Earlier yesterday, Phillip, who had been seen standing at the water’s edge, said she was giving thanks for the return of the bodies.
“I came and I spoke to (the sea) and I said, I’m a mother. I’m a daughter. I’m a sister. I’m a niece. I’m a grandmother and all I asked for is for you is to give us back our children,” she said.
Asked what justice would look like for the families of those who died, Phillip said it was not a question she could answer.
“Because what do you call justice? Lives have been lost. There isn’t justice for that. People have their own opinion, but that’s life,” she said.
She said the families were focused on recovering the remaining missing person and finding a way to move forward.
“So to answer it in a way that you’re probably looking for, I can’t. We just want the bodies to be retrieved. We’re looking for closure. We’re looking to move forward from this. Whatever this is, to move forward from it,” she said. “It’s a hard, long road for each and every one of us,” Phillip added.
The collision occurred around 6.30 p.m. on November 8, near Cannings Point, Chaguaramas, and involved two pleasure craft.
The impact caused extensive damage to one of the vessels.
The incident left 26 people with injuries.
