Two of the four Venezuelans who were burnt about their bodies when a fuel boat exploded at Morawhanna, in Region One, last Sunday, have succumbed to their injuries.
The Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) said yesterday that two of the men died while undergoing treatment at the institution’s Burn Care Unit. While the GPH did not provide their names, Stabroek News was told that the men were Zadola Antonio, 51, and Antel Gonsalves, 46. Their two countrymen, Ruiz Domingo and another man whose name was given as Elizaul, remain patients of the hospital.
Their conditions were listed as stable.
Stabroek News was told that the Venezuelan embassy here was providing assistance to the men. This newspaper was also told that the men may not have received immediate medical attention when they were taken to the Mabaruma Hospital, in Region One, on the day of the accident. Reports are that there was no proper treatment for the men there, while the doctor on duty appeared unable to aid them. It was noted too that the medical practitioner was being urged to have the men transferred to the city the same day but he waited until the following day.
Stabroek News was told yesterday that the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) along with the regional authorities is looking at the fuel trade in the area, as reports surface that fuel is being smuggled into Region One through the facility at Morawhanna.
A regional official told this newspaper last week that trading of fuel from Venezuela through Morawhanna dates as far back as the early 1990s and according to him, it was the smugglers who led to the closure of the fuel farm, which was once operated by the Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil).
He said the smugglers would ferry fuel into the region and retail same at a cheap price. “In the past, people from here use to go over to Venezuela through Imbotero and carry over things like sugar and bring back fuel,” he said.
He added that many times bribes would be paid by the smugglers to cross the borders but he noted that the situation changed in the late 1990s. “These Spanish people come here now and sell fuel to the people who operate the fuel farm here and at a good price,” the man stated.
Another source in the region stated that there are persons who purchase smuggled fuel and resell it at exorbitant rates. “I don’t think the fuel is legal because they don’t mark it so maybe the fire exposed a lot of things,” he said.
While there is a police station at Morawhanna, the source stated that the foreign nationals are allowed to travel uninhibited. “This thing going on long now but who gon stop them?” he asked.
This newspaper was told that the four injured men were hesitant as regards seeking further medical attention since they had entered Guyana illegally.
Reports are that around 8 am on Sunday, the men were attending to a mechanical problem in the engine room on board the Venezuelan-owned fuel vessel when the explosion occurred. At the same time, fuel was being discharged from the vessel to the port of entry.
It was noted that the men were welding at the time when pieces of equipment caught afire resulting in an explosion at the engine room, forcing the men to plunge into the nearby Barima River. Quick action by their colleagues led to the fire being extinguished, but reports are that the vessel was damaged substantially.
