Funerals Begin For Guyana Ferry Disaster Victims As Recovery Total Rises To 72 And Vigil Set For NYC

What this source establishes

The corpus's fullest late-week account and its only substantial diaspora record, naming individual victims and their funerals alongside a Brooklyn candlelight vigil and a statement from US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. It carries the sharpest political criticism found in the international coverage in this corpus: opposition MP Deon La Cruz says survivors had received no welfare contact from any government representative, and opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed says his own teams recovered more than 25 bodies while demanding Edghill resign. It explains why Iron Punt is hazardous and says fishermen were first responders ahead of the Coast Guard, with ExxonMobil boats arriving later.

Figures cited in this source

Recovery total 72 as of Thursday night with 65 positively identified; 179 confirmed aboard; 76 to 77 rescued; roughly 30 unaccounted for; manifest listed 133 (116 passengers, 17 crew)

Key claims

• Recovery total rose to 72 Thursday night with 65 victims positively identified — Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret'd) Mark Phillips
• With 179 people confirmed aboard and 76 to 77 rescued, roughly 30 people remain unaccounted for
• Funerals held Thursday included Kevin Wilson (East Bank Berbice) and 11-year-old Ronaldo Poon (Wakenaam); seven-year-old Adans Williams of Bartica set to be laid to rest July 24
• Identified victims include Paul Seepersaud, the MV Barima's chief engineer; Viviana Sadruddin; Rubina Hernandez; Akeela Rodrigues; Rachel Wells and her three children Nathaniel Jr., 8, Natalia, 5, and Ezekiel, 3; Bibi Akela Mohamed, 49; and Ravindra Singh, 46
• Survivor accounts were consistent that the ferry was overloaded, that rescue boats took too long, and that survivors watched others who could not hold on go under — Opposition WIN MP Deon La Cruz
• Survivors have not received a single call from human services or any government representative, and many cannot sleep, replaying the sounds of screams — Deon La Cruz
• Search teams recovered more than 25 bodies in a single stretch of the operation; renewed call for Public Works Minister Juan Edghill to resign — opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed
• 'Thinking of the Guyanese American community in New York this week' — US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
• A candlelight vigil is planned at Church and Utica Avenues in Brooklyn, NY at 6:30 p.m.
• Iron Punt is an area mariners have long described as one of the most hazardous stretches of the Georgetown-to-Port Kaituma route due to unpredictable currents and sudden wave shifts
• Local fishermen were the first responders, followed by the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, private vessels and later support boats from ExxonMobil; passengers remained in the water for hours overnight

Quotations

• “thinking of the Guyanese American community in New York this week”— Chuck Schumer, US Senate Majority Leader
• “survivors have not yet received a single call from human services or any government representative”— Deon La Cruz, Opposition WIN Member of Parliament (reported)
• “recovered more than 25 bodies in a single stretch”— Azruddin Mohamed, Guyana opposition leader

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