Death toll from Guyana ferry disaster continues to rise

What this source establishes

BBC News reports a death toll of 53 with 76 rescued as of 22:00 GMT Tuesday 21 July, attributed to Prime Minister Mark Phillips, and 179 aboard against a manifest of 116 passengers and 17 crew. It states a distress call came at 23:01 local time, that the captain and a crew member were in custody after positive cannabis tests, and that the French army sent 12 divers, two doctors and a mechanic. Survivor Elena Moonsammy's account, given to Kiskadee Watch, describes the ferry tilting after a large wave.

Key claims

• Distress call received at 23:01 local time (03:01 GMT), 18-19 July - directly relevant to the Prime Minister's later statement of 25 July that the state has 'no such record' of a Mayday
• 179 aboard against 116 passengers and 17 crew on the manifest
• 53 dead, 76 rescued as of 22:00 GMT Tuesday 21 July
• French army sent 12 divers, two doctors and a mechanic from French Guiana
• At least 17 survivors pulled from the sea by small private boats
• Survivor Elena Moonsammy's account was given to Kiskadee Watch, a Guyanese outlet not otherwise represented in this corpus

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