Senior Reporter
A journey home turned deadly for 29 Venezuelan migrants, including six children, after the pirogue carrying them capsized off the south-western coast in Erin on Wednesday, leaving five-year-old Brithanny Palacios and an adult male dead.
Searches were also conducted by the Coast Guard and the Hunters Search and Rescue Team for two other adults, but by last evening authorities confirmed that they had been accounted for.
The group was attempting to use an illegal route to leave the country, police said.
Guardian Media was told that Brithanny, who would have turned six in October, was aboard the pirogue with her mother and grandmother. The identity of the deceased adult male had not been confirmed up to last evening.
The overloaded pirogue, which was also carrying luggage, left on Wednesday from an area about two kilometres from where the bodies were later found. Police were contacted around 1.45 pm after the man’s body was seen floating near the shoreline.
The Coast Guard responded and recovered the body. Additional searches were later carried out with assistance from the Air Support Unit, and luggage believed to have come from the vessel was found.
Police were told the vessel departed around 1 pm. However, a resident said that as early as 11 am on Wednesday, clothing and other items had begun washing ashore.
Hunters Search and Rescue Team captain Vallence Rambharat said they were alerted by members of the Venezuelan migrant community about the tragedy and visited the area yesterday morning to search for the missing people.
He and team member Kesraj Sooknanan found Brithanny’s body along the rocky shoreline at about 7.22 am.
Rambharat said none of her relatives were present to identify the body.
“They are working through us. Baby Palacios, her body was identified by a photo sent to the parents. And so, they are in contact now with the police.”
Rambharat said they received credible information that the vessel encountered engine problems shortly after leaving shore and eventually capsized, with survivors swimming to safety.
Initial police reports, however, stated that the vessel was not departing Trinidad but was heading towards the shoreline at Los Iros when it struck a rock and capsized.
Rambharat said the information received from survivors through members of the Venezuelan migrant community had since been relayed to police.
“But we have information from survivors of the incident who were able to work with us through the Venezuelan migrant community leaders to indicate to us exactly what happened,” he said.
Rambharat said the tragedy highlighted the dangers of overcrowded boats being used to transport migrants between Trinidad and Venezuela and called for stricter enforcement of maritime laws.
“The ordinary fishing pirogue ought not to be used to transport 29 persons. The weight alone of 29 persons, plus their luggage, that’s overload and difficulties would arise. This is not the first incident with migrants, Venezuelan migrants finding themselves in difficulty at sea. And the Guyanese incident and the incident with the St Vincent’s vessel recently, means that we have to step up in terms of our maritime policy and maritime laws to ensure that there’s compliance for all marine vessels operating within our waters.”
When Guardian Media visited the area, a man was fishing while others were taking part in a religious ritual. Scattered along the shoreline were children’s toys, clothing and footwear—the only reminders of the tragedy.
The location of the vessel remained unknown up to last evening.
Guardian Media contacted the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, the Ministry of Defence and Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge for comment, but no responses were received up to news time.
