MV Barima tragedy: "Time will come for justice… but today we comfort and mourn" – Pres Ali

What this source establishes

Guyana Times reports President Ali's fullest public address on the disaster, delivered at Charity after a candlelight vigil, in which he argues accountability must follow mourning. His figures are 76 rescued, 72 recovered and at least 31 still unaccounted for, implying a total aboard of about 179 and a missing figure smaller than the roughly 100 feared dead reported elsewhere. Ali says survivors described the ferry tilting and throwing passengers into the water in less than a minute, shorter than the four minutes Leon Murray described. He confirms suspensions of several T&HD managers.

Figures cited in this source

76 rescued, 72 bodies recovered, at least 31 still unaccounted for; 65 positively identified, more than 20 handed over; 179 aboard including 18 crew

Key claims

• President Irfaan Ali said: 'There will come a time for questions, for truth to rise, for justice to speak, but today is not that day.'
• Ali spoke at a prayer service on Wednesday evening after a candlelight vigil/walk at Charity on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two.
• Guyana Times reported 76 rescued, 72 bodies recovered and at least 31 still unaccounted for.
• More than 20 of the 65 positively identified bodies had been handed over to family members.
• Recovered bodies are taken to Charity for identification and storage.
• The Government is covering transportation and funeral expenses for the families of victims.
• Survivors recalled the ferry began tilting to one side before capsizing, throwing passengers into the water in less than a minute.
• The MV Barima departed Georgetown at about 15:00h Saturday carrying 179 persons including 18 crew members and cargo.
• Local divers were supported by regional experts from the French Guiana army, Brazilian navy and Trinidad and Tobago coast guard.
• The captain and at least two crew members were arrested after positive cannabis tests; another T&HD official was detained.
• Several managers at the T&HD were suspended following the manifest revelations.
• An independent Commission of Inquiry would be launched to determine the circumstances that led to the sinking.

Quotations

• “There will come a time for questions, for truth to rise, for justice to speak, but today is not that day. Today, we mourn.”— Irfaan Ali, President
• “This wound is deep and terrible. It has shaken us to the core, but it shall not break us”— Irfaan Ali, President
• “Your grief is our nation's grief. Your tears are our nation's tears.”— Irfaan Ali, President

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