Four crew members die aboard cargo vessel in Guyana

The police force of Guyana has found four dead crew members aboard a cargo vessel on 4 February. The incident happened at a Wharf on Water Street, Cummingburg, Georgetown on Wednesday evening at approximately 6:30 pm.

According to the  police investigation, the cause of the death of the crew members is chemical exposure. As per the details shared by the police force, the men were on duty aboard the vessel and they entered a confined area in the lower section of the ship, which is near the engine room where they supposedly became overwhelmed and collapsed.

The dead crew members have been identified as Barndon Deonarine 18, a seaman from support, East Demerara;  a boat captain from Cummings Lodge, West Coast Demerara, Nerwaine Persaud 57 years old , one more seaman from De Kendren, West Coast Demerara, 33 years old Dominique Alexis, and an engineer from Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, Getindra Sanchara.

Notably, during the course of the investigation they found that the crew members were inspecting a dry space in the engine room where they got exposed to a chemical gas which is identified as noxious fumes.

The investigation revealed that initially Brandon Deonarine and Nerwaine Persaud entered the engine room and collapsed. After them, two other members of the crew entered the room in an attempt to help them but subsequently they also collapsed.

Moreover, other crew members also raised an alarm, waiting for an emergency response.

From the raised alarm by the crew members, The Emergency Medical Technician and officers of the Fire Service from Guyana  immediately responded to the incident.

After reaching the incident scene police officers took the four men out from the vessel  and sent them to Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where they were pronounced dead by a doctor on duty.

Moreover, their bodies are currently at the hospital’s mortuary, where their post-mortem examinations are expected to be conducted to find out the exact cause of the death of four crew members. Furthermore, the police investigation is in a continuing process and more information related to the case will be released as it becomes available.