2-year-old girl found dead after Guyana ferry capsizes

Guyana: Authorities have confirmed that the body of a 2-year-old has been found in the ocean during the operation. The toddler was recognised as Kelly Williams of White Water Village. The toddler is the youngest victim recovered so far. Kelly's parents Clerinnys Valenzuela and Smith Williams remain among those who are still missing. Her body was recovered during the rescue operation earlier on Monday and her body was identified by her aunt.

The death toll from the MV Barima ferry tragedy has risen to 27, while 83 people are still missing, said Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips in a press briefing. Search and rescue operations are continuing as authorities are investigating the cause of the disaster.

The location of the MV Barima vessel was determined on Monday afternoon at around 1:00 p.m. by a fisherman named Haresh Singh and his team. After the discovery by the fisherman, sonar scanners confirmed that MV Barima was lying on the seabed. The sonar scanners were operated by maritime survey companies VEHSI and Exxon Mobil support vessels. The mission was then converted to a dive recovery operation.

During the rescue operation the body of the 2-year-old Kelly along with the bodies of 27 people were recovered. PM Phillips said that the investigators believe that 179 people and 18 crew members were aboard the MV Barima when it capsized. Although the authorities are facing difficulties to determine the total number of people aboard because numerous passengers were not listed in the official passenger manifest, it is believed that 83 people remain missing while 69 have been rescued.

Kelly was among the four deceased children found during the search-and-rescue operation.

Officials said that the recovered bodies will be first taken to Charity for processing by health officials and police before being transferred to Suddie Hospital.

While in a recent development, the vessel’s captain and at least one other crew member have been arrested after testing positive for narcotics. PM Phillips also said earlier that an investigation into potential institutional failure has been launched.

He said that anyone found guilty of negligence or security breach and misconduct will face legal action.

As per reports, the vessel had several major functional and technical issues and was also unsafe to sail.

The authorities are also questioning the amount of cargo the vessel was carrying, which was 268 tonnes, even though it was way below its licensed capacity of 284 tonnes. It’s because Public Works Minister Juan Edghill revealed that 35 of the 67 rescued passengers were not found in the official passenger manifest earlier on Sunday, July 19.

The MV Barima left Port Georgetown on Saturday afternoon and was heading to Port Kaituma in Region One. It was an over 80 year old passenger cargo vessel, built in 1939. The vessel reportedly capsized about seven miles offshore near Iron Punt at around 3:15 p.m.

The first distress call was made at around 11:01 p.m. Saturday, July 18, leading to a major search and rescue operation.