MV Barima incident: As survivors recount harrowing ordeal, families await answers

What this source establishes

The first substantial survivor-testimony piece in the domestic press, published the same day as the sinking, and the earliest source in this corpus for the figure of 67 rescued including 15 children. Survivors describe a wave striking the vessel, a sharp lean to one side and water rushing in within seconds, with most passengers asleep in hammocks. No other source in this corpus names Elena Moonsammy as having lost all seven children she was travelling with, or records Orman Cox improvising a flotation device from plastic bottles and his belt that five survivors clung to. Cox says survivors could see rescue-boat lights but were invisible to rescuers because of the swells.

Figures cited in this source

67 rescued including 15 children; 116 passengers plus 17 crew aboard

Key claims

• The MV Barima departed Georgetown at about 3:15 p.m. Saturday with 116 passengers and a 17-member crew, bound for Port Kaituma.
• The Timheri Control Tower received the vessel's distress call at approximately 11:01 p.m.
• The search and rescue operation was launched off Guyana's coast near Iron Punt, in the vicinity of the Pomeroon River.
• Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill said the vessel carried 250 life jackets and six inflatable life rafts, meeting its required safety standards.
• 67 individuals, including 15 children, have been rescued so far.
• Survivor Elena Moonsammy said she was travelling with seven children including her two-year-old baby and lost all seven - five girls and two boys.
• Survivor Orman Cox of Wauna, Region One, said the boat 'just made one cant', and he tied empty plastic bottles together with his belt as a flotation device that five survivors clung to for hours.
• Cox said survivors could see rescue boats' lights but the swells prevented rescuers from seeing them, and they shouted for hours without being heard.
• Survivor Marvin James, asleep in a hammock on the upper deck, said he heard a loud crashing sound and water covered him in about two seconds.
• Rachel Welch and her three children Nathaniel Jr., Natalia and Ezekiel were unaccounted for; Louvicia Poon was pleading for information on her 11-year-old son Ronaldo.
• Survivors are being brought to Charity on the Essequibo Coast for medical attention.
• The Prime Minister, serving as Acting President, continues to receive regular updates.

Quotations

• “It happened within seconds.”— Elena Moonsammy, survivor
• “I tried to grab my baby. But a box knocked him out of my hand.”— Elena Moonsammy, survivor
• “Seven of them I lost”— five girls and two boys. — Elena Moonsammy, survivor
• “We were sitting together when the boat just made one cant.”— Orman Cox, survivor from Wauna, Region One
• “We could see the rescue boats' lights. But because of the swells, they couldn't see us.”— Orman Cox, survivor
• “I just heard a loud crashing sound. It covered me in about two seconds.”— Marvin James, survivor
• “Mommy, the little boy is here... but the little girl is not here.”— Alicia Atkinson, survivor, relayed by her mother Brenda Atkinson

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