MV Barima Disaster… Death toll now pegged at 103

What this source establishes

Kaieteur News puts its own death toll at 103 on a day when the government's confirmed recovered count was 53. It records Prime Minister Phillips dismissing resignation calls as noise while confirming that state property including Public Works equipment, fuel, machinery and ATVs was aboard, and saying government vessels are uninsured as a matter of policy. Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed says the captain's family told him phone calls came from the top pressuring him to accept more cargo, and that a G$120-something million maintenance contract tendered in March 2026 was never executed because of internal fighting over who would get it. Mohamed also says there is no scale to weigh cargo.

Figures cited in this source

Death toll pegged at 103; 53 bodies recovered by official units as at 18:00 hrs, 26 identified; 76 rescued reconciled (77 earlier); manifest claimed 116 + 17 crew

Key claims

• Kaieteur News pegged the death toll at 103 while the government's official recovered-bodies count stood at 53 as at 18:00 hrs, with 76 reconciled rescues.
• Political stakeholders from WIN, APNU, FGM and VPAC demanded the removal of Minister Juan Edghill, Minister Deodat Indar and MARAD Director General Stephen Thomas.
• Prime Minister Mark Phillips said the decision on Edghill's position lies with the president and dismissed resignation calls as 'noise'.
• 16 state and private sector vessels were deployed in the wreckage area; the search area was expanded by 400 square miles to 2,100 square kilometres, extending to Waini Point.
• Authorities confirmed that after searching the submerged structure no survivors remained inside, transitioning work at the hull from search to strict recovery.
• Divers identified one body trapped within the wreckage but could not immediately recover it due to the complexity of the extraction.
• Phillips confirmed state property was aboard, including Public Works equipment, fuel, machinery and ATVs.
• Phillips acknowledged government vessels are typically uninsured as a matter of policy, with the state assuming direct liability.
• Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed said search teams found about 10 bodies near the mouth of the Pomeroon River, some 25 miles from the wreckage location.
• Mohamed said the 90-year-old vessel went down at 10:30 p.m., was overloaded, and called it the biggest national tragedy after the Jonestown massacre.
• Mohamed said the captain's family told him phone calls came 'from the top' pressuring him to load more cargo.
• Mohamed alleged a G$120-something million maintenance contract for the MV Barima was to be awarded in March 2026 but internal fighting over who would get it meant no work was done.
• Mohamed said there is no scale to weigh the cargo and the manifest does not reflect the true number.
• Mohamed said the first body he recovered was a two-year-old baby girl.

Quotations

• “Minister Edghill was appointed by a president of Guyana... that decision lies with the president. None of us here cannot answer that.”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister
• “As far as I'm concerned, there's a lot of noise out there from the opposition.”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister
• “I'm advised that public works would have lost some equipment... fuel, machinery, and so, ATVs”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister
• “The vessel was overloaded. And it's a negligence of the Minister of Public Works.”— Azruddin Mohamed, Leader of the Opposition
• “Yesterday morning at 8:30, the first body I recover was a two-year-old baby girl.”— Azruddin Mohamed, Leader of the Opposition
• “This is one of the biggest national tragedies in this country after the Jonestown massacre.”— Azruddin Mohamed, Leader of the Opposition
• “Even the family of the captain reached out to me and mentioned phone calls would come to him to put more cargo vessel... You're getting calls from the top.”— Azruddin Mohamed, Leader of the Opposition
• “Now, they don't even have a scale to weigh the cargo. The manifest not reflecting the true number.”— Azruddin Mohamed, Leader of the Opposition

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