Murder charges filed against captain and crew in Guyana ferry disaster that killed 70+
Guyana police charged the captain and two crew members with murder after a state ferry capsized, killing over 70 people. Thirty passengers remain missing.
Captain, chief mate, and cargo superintendent face murder charges in MV Barima capsizing
Guyana police on Tuesday filed murder charges against the captain and two crew members of the MV Barima, a state ferry that capsized in July killing more than 70 people, with 30 passengers still unaccounted for, thestar.com reports.
The three accused — Captain Kevin Price, 40, chief mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, 42, and cargo superintendent Delon Granderson, 33 — appeared in court Tuesday morning without legal representation and were not required to enter pleas.
Authorities believe 179 people were aboard the vessel when it departed the capital, Georgetown, on July 18 and capsized in Atlantic waters before reaching Port Kaituma, a northern town near Venezuela. The disaster is the worst maritime incident on record in the South American nation.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips told Parliament late Monday that 77 people had been rescued, though one of those survivors has since died. Opposition lawmakers responded by pounding desks and heckling during the session, demanding the resignation of Works Minister Juan Edghill and Junior Minister Indar Persaud over the sinking.
On Sunday, the government announced a five-person commission of international legal and marine experts to investigate the capsizing of the 87-year-old vessel. The government has acknowledged the MV Barima remained in service because construction of a new pier at Port Kaituma — needed to accommodate a $12.7 million replacement vessel acquired from India — had not yet been completed.
Some survivors told reporters the ferry was leaking and overcrowded with passengers and cargo at the time of departure. The commission has been asked to examine those claims.
Phillips said it is likely the wreck, which now lies 50 feet (15 metres) underwater, will not be salvaged. A second court hearing is scheduled for August 3 at a court in the western Essequibo region, near where the vessel went down.
Source: Google News GY — Crime