Guyana launches criminal probe as crews scour waters for survivors after ferry capsizes

What this source establishes

NON-VERBATIM RETRIEVAL: condensed rendering only; see file header. The Jamaica Gleaner's placement of the AP criminal-probe story, which puts the manifest gap at 35 of 67 rescued rather than AP's 32 and states only two bodies had been found. It is one of the few records in this corpus to locate Port Kaituma explicitly 'near Venezuela' in the body text. It describes hopes of finding survivors as fading.

Figures cited in this source

Only two bodies found; 67 rescued of whom at least 35 were not on the manifest; documented 116 passengers and 17 crew

Key claims

• At least 35 of the 67 people rescued were not on the manifest list — the government
• Officials believe there were many more than the documented 116 passengers and 17 crew aboard — Prime Minister Mark Phillips, late Sunday
• The rescued captain and at least one other crew member tested positive for marijuana and remain in police custody pending a criminal investigation — Mark Phillips
• The MV Barima capsized off the Essequibo coast late Saturday en route from Georgetown to Port Kaituma in northwest Guyana, near Venezuela. Only two bodies have been found
• The government is launching an urgent and comprehensive probe focused on manifest accuracy, cargo loading, compliance with safety rules and the conduct of the captain and crew before sailing
• 'Where negligence, misconduct or criminal wrongdoing is established, those responsible will face the full force' of consequences — Mark Phillips
• Officials cannot determine actual passenger numbers due to inaccurate manifest documentation, and such falsification is a criminal action that compromises rescue operations — Public Works Minister Juan Edghill
• The ferry is believed to have been overloaded

Quotations

• “Where negligence, misconduct or criminal wrongdoing is established, those responsible will face the full force”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister
• “We have zero tolerance for crew members consuming substances while working”— Juan Edghill, Public Works Minister

This page is a research summary prepared for comment and review. It is not the article. Copyright in the original remains with Jamaica Gleaner; the full text is held only in the private research corpus from which this archive was compiled. Follow the link above to read it at the source.