Boat owner detained at CID Headquarters

Jul 30, 2010 News

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– body of dead crew member brought back home

Local police officials have detained the owner of the ill-fated MV Captain Tom as they try to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the death of two crew members following an explosion on his vessel.
Kaieteur News understands that police ranks picked up Mr. Sasesankar, called ‘Charlie’, at his De Willem, West Coast Demerara home yesterday afternoon.
He was then taken to CID Headquarters, Eve Leary, and was still in custody last night.
There have been conflicting reports about what led to Sunday’s mishap. Mr. Sasesankar has told Kaieteur News that he was informed that a generator on the vessel caught fire.
But other reports suggest that the four-man crew was pumping fuel when sparks ignited the fuel.
Crewman Ravi Sankar Ragoonauth was reportedly trapped on the blazing vessel, which subsequently sank. His body has not been recovered.
Rameshdat Misir Narine, called ‘Barrat’, sustained severe burns and succumbed on Tuesday in a Paramaribo, Suriname hospital. His body was brought back from the Dutch-speaking republic yesterday.
Narine’s wife, Rajdai Sonalall, who had travelled to Suriname, told Kaieteur News that her husband died just as she arrived in Suriname. He is to be cremated today.
Some of Ragoonauth’s relatives again expressed dissatisfaction yesterday with the information that they were receiving from the owner of the MV Captain Tom.
According to his father, Ram Ragoonauth, Mr. Sasesankar visited his home yesterday morning and asked for his son’s identification card.
Mr. Ragoonauth alleged that the boat owner told him that the Surinamese authorities were claiming that the mishap had not occurred in Suriname waters.
As such, the vessel’s owner allegedly said that he had to report to the Guyana authorities, and he needed the crewmen’s documents to verify their identities.
Mr. Ragoonauth also told Kaieteur News that he has been unable to ascertain the whereabouts of the captain, Ramlall Ramjattan (the captain) and Sharief Khan, the only two survivors.
The man said he was told that his son, Ravi Ragoonauth, was in the engine room, and the other three crew members were on the deck when the boat burst into flames.
Narine, called ‘Barrat’, reportedly ran into the engine room to inform Ragoonauth about the fire.
It is alleged that by the time Narine exited the engine room, the vessel was almost engulfed in flames, and Narine, Ramlall Ramjattan, and Sharief Khan jumped overboard.
They were rescued by the Surinamese Coast Guard and a fishing vessel.
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Fisheries Department said that the MV Captain Tom is not registered by that entity. As such, the boat was not entitled to engage in any fishing activities within Guyana and is not recognized as a vessel licensed to fish in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
The owner of the MV Captain Tom also told Kaieteur News that he had recently purchased the vessel in the US and was having it transported to Suriname to sell it when the tragedy occurred.
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Teen with ‘flu-like symptoms’ dies suddenly
– Relatives say was being treated for leptospirosis and malaria

Relatives of a Bee Hive East Coast Demerara teenager are now left with unanswered questions following his sudden demise.
What was more alarming to the youth’s relatives was the fact that their home was immediately visited by a team from the Ministry of Health.
Around 10:00 hours yesterday 17-year-old Hennrico Jerrick, a student of the Bygeval Secondary School, was pronounced dead by a doctor at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
The teen’s mother, Leslyn Monize, told Kaieteur News that on Monday she took her son to the Mahaicony Hospital, after he was complaining of fever, vomiting and pains about his body. The woman said that after the first visit to the hospital her son was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital for a series of blood tests and was given some pain medication.
According to Monize, after visiting the Georgetown Hospital on Tuesday her son was admitted to the Male Medical ward and a test later showed that he had contracted malaria.
The woman related that she knew about the malaria but instead she was told that her son had leptospirosis. She said after making enquires she was told that her son was only being treated for leptospirosis. Subsequently she said she was informed that he was being treated for malaria.

Monize said for most of Tuesday her son was taking saline and oxygen before he was sent up to the ward. The woman related that on Wednesday she visited her son and he was walking about and seemed quite strong. He was also “talking as normal”. She added that around noon the other patients on the ward as well as her son were given their respective medication. She recalled that immediately after taking a tablet which was given to him, he started vomiting and wheezing heavily.
“This boy like he couldn’t even breathe and right away the nurses called a doctor and within minutes an ambulance came and they moved my son to ICU and put him on a machine.”
The woman said that following that occurrence her son never uttered one word to her or any other family member.
“When I go this morning to see he, he just hook up to this machine and ain’t responding. When ah hold he hand he just cold.”
She said mere minutes later she was told that her son had died.
Monize said moments after her son’s death an official from the Ministry of Health approached her asking for information about her living arrangements and where she was living.
When this newspaper visited the woman’s house yesterday afternoon a team from the Ministry of Health was there spraying the yard.
The woman said that the team also conducted malaria smears on some 40 residents from around the area. However she noted that other members of her household were tested for malaria at the same time with her son but they were all negative.
Monize said she is now left to wait on the result of a post mortem examination report to have some amount of certainty about her son’s death.
She told this newspaper that she is of the opinion that her son was misdiagnosed and treated for both leptospirosis and malaria.
However when contacted for a comment on the issue, Director of Medical Services, Dr. Madam Rambarran said he was on leave and has no idea about the issue. Efforts to contact the Hospital’s CEO, Michael Khan proved futile.
On the other hand, Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy when asked about the incident yesterday afternoon said he was not aware of it.

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