A woman rescued from the MV Barima disaster told fisherman Haresh Singh that she had barely managed to touch her children before they were separated during the sinking, while another survivor recounted grabbing a woman’s hand before losing contact with her.
Singh described those encounters as particularly touching as he recalled his role in rescuing 11 survivors from a life raft during testimony before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) yesterday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.
He said the woman shared the heartbreaking account shortly after he and his crew pulled her and the other survivors from the raft and brought them aboard their fishing boat.
Another survivor, whom Singh described as a Spanish-speaking man, told him that before the vessel sank, he had grabbed the hand of a woman and another person had also held on to her, but they never saw her again.
Singh said the accounts affected him deeply as he and his crew worked to get the survivors safely to shore.
The fisherman testified that he received a call shortly after 11 p.m. from the Region Two Regional Chairman and Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Madanlall Ramraj, informing him that the MV Barima had sunk offshore of Devonshire Castle and that people were floating in the water.
He immediately contacted his brother and other fishermen, and they took their boats to assist in the rescue effort.
Singh said they eventually came upon four life rafts; three were empty, while the fourth contained the 11 survivors, including men, women and children. He and his crew pulled alongside the raft and helped the occupants into their boat.
Among those rescued was a young girl who appeared to be in a terrible condition. Singh said his crew provided her with assistance, including food and something to drink.
He said they eventually returned to Hampton Court, where police officers, medical personnel, government officials and the regional chairman were waiting. The survivors were taken ashore for medical attention.
Singh, who has been fishing for approximately 40 years, also described the difficult conditions under which the rescue was carried out, saying the waves were high and the sea was rough.
He said he later returned to sea with other fishermen to help locate the sunken vessel and during that search, he noticed an unusually strong smell and debris floating on the surface, including personal-care products and other items.
He subsequently spotted a thick yellow rope which he believed was connected to the Barima and his crew secured it and contacted the authorities to report that they had located the wreck, approximately 15 miles offshore, according to his GPS.
Singh said they marked the location with a flag and blinking light before later assisting Coast Guard personnel and divers in efforts to secure the vessel.
During questioning, he also told the commission that fishermen had no formal search-and-rescue arrangement in place and that their participation was largely informal, with crews responding when called upon to assist.
He said that during the operation, he and his crew relied on their own experience and knowledge of the waters, rather than receiving specific instructions on how to conduct the search.
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