Total bodies recovered in MV Barima tragedy rises to 65; Unlisted passengers among fatalities

What this source establishes

News Source Guyana reports on the 22 July press conference at which the toll reached 65 recovered and 44 identified. It records that identified dead as well as survivors were found not to be on the official manifest, with Prime Minister Phillips saying reconciliation was incomplete. It details the salvage plan: repositioning the wreck, installing marine salvage airbags to restore buoyancy, then towing it closer to shore for a fuller search. It notes Trinidad and Tobago and Brazilian dive crews joining the operation, and a GDF drone team.

Figures cited in this source

65 bodies recovered, 44 positively identified; 76 rescued; believed 179 on board

Key claims

• The total number of bodies recovered stood at 65, with 44 positively identified by family members.
• Prime Minister Mark Phillips announced that support diving crews from Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil had joined the recovery operation.
• A number of identified bodies were found not to be on the ferry's official manifest, as were a number of survivors.
• Phillips said: 'The reconciliation is ongoing, I can give you a figure but we know that among those rescued and among the bodies recovered, they are persons who were not on the manifest. So that reconciliation is ongoing, it is not fully completed as yet'.
• Authorities still believed the number of persons on board when the ferry sank was 179; the total rescued stood at 76; there had been no sign of life in more than 48 hours.
• Efforts were being made to raise the ferry off the ocean bed and bring it closer to shore for a more comprehensive search.
• The recovery plan involved repositioning the vessel before installing marine salvage airbags (buoyancy balloons) around the wreckage to restore buoyancy, then towing it closer to the shoreline.
• A Guyana Defence Force drone team joined the search operations and conducted detailed surveillance closer to the shoreline.

Quotations

• “The reconciliation is ongoing, I can give you a figure but we know that among those rescued and among the bodies recovered, they are persons who were not on the manifest. So that reconciliation is ongoing, it is not fully completed as yet”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister of Guyana

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