The theft of fuel appeared to be behind the deaths of three men in an explosion at a wharf at Friendship on the East Bank of Demerara on Saturday as several laden jars were found in the trunk of a car belonging to one of the deceased
The deceased have since been identified as sixty-year-old boat captain of Beehive, Essequibo, Seepersaud Persaud; twenty-nine-year-old sailor Damion Dias of Sarah Johanna, Region Four and White Water, Region One and forty-year-old sailor, Mark Mangal of Riverstown, Essequibo Coast.
They died when the vessel, the Canada Club, burst into flames at the Friendship wharf. Investigations revealed that at the time of the incident, the vessel was docked on the western side of another vessel ‘Rowenar’.
The Canada Club had delivered a shipment of diesel and gasoline at Guyoil at Adventure, Essequibo Coast on Friday and returned to the wharf at Lot 12-13 Friendship on Saturday where it docked at 10:30 am.
According to reports, there was no ongoing maintenance being done on the boat. Later in the day at about 4:40 pm an explosion was heard coming from the direction of the boat and immediately after fire was seen emanating from the bow of the vessel. The Fire Service was summoned from Diamond and the fire was subsequently extinguished.
The bodies of the men were then discovered on the eastern side of the deck.
Further enquiries revealed that the explosion came from the engine room where a hose was noticed to have been connected to the fuel pump which was observed to be partially burnt. The remains of a yellow plastic bottle were found near the hose.
Checks were made on the deceased boat captain, Persaud’s car, registration number PTT 2965 where it was discovered that already stored in the trunk of the vehicle were 5 six-gallon jars and one 5-gallon jar containing gasoline.
As a result, samples were taken from the fuel and the bottles were lodged at the Grove Police Station pending further investigations.
When this newspaper contacted the owner of the boat, Sewsankar (only name) yesterday, he noted that the men had been employed with him for less than a year. Mangal, he said, began working with him two months ago, Dias – five months ago and Persaud – seven months ago.
Sewsankar said that while he has been thrown into expense owing to the damage to the boat, it is nothing compared to the lives lost. He said that he had never had an issue with any of the men before nor was he ever suspicious of fuel going missing from his boat.
He pointed out that where the men were allegedly pumping the gasoline from is where the sediment of the fuel is kept, what he referred to as the “dead stock”. He said that pumping fuel from the dead stock is dangerous. The men, he said, should not have been there during that time of the day as no work is done on the weekends and the boat had been docked since the morning of the incident.
At the time of the explosion, Sewsankar said he was along the East Bank Demerara Highway. He said that when he arrived, the fire attendants were already on the scene. He noted that two more jars were found near the fuel pump and suspects that the now dead men were in the process of filling them up also.
Following the incident, the bodies of the men were escorted to the Diamond Public Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival. They were then taken to the Lyken Funeral Parlour to await autopsies.
Fire Chief, Kalamodeen Edoo said the fire is still being investigated and its origin is still unknown. A report is expected to be completed today.
The mother of Dias, Sheila Dias said that the last time she spoke to her son was on Saturday morning, adding that he would call her every other day.
The woman said that Dias, the seventh of ten children had left White Water, North West District in November of 2019 in search of work. Dias had worked on a chicken farm before he became a sailor. She noted that her husband had suffered a stroke some years ago and she depended on Dias’ financial assistance. She said that he would send money for her every month. On Saturday when Dias had called he informed her that he would be receiving his salary today (Monday) and would send money for her later in the week.
Saturday evening she received the devastating news of her son’s death. The woman said that when she saw Dias’ number, she thought it was him calling her back but when she answered, it was his “boss” who informed her of her son’s demise. She said she explained to the man that she needed help to have his body transported to Region One and Dias’ boss promised that he’d assist her once the police have completed their investigations.
The woman added that she also received a call from a doctor (name unknown) who told her that it will be impossible to have the body transported because of its badly burnt state.
Meanwhile, a relative of Mangal said that the last time she spoke to the man was on Father’s Day when she called him and learnt from him that he wasn’t at home. She further noted that friends at the deceased’s wake said they saw Mangal on Saturday morning. They relayed to her that he told them that he would no longer be working on the boat as he was leaving the job. His demise later that day came as a shock to family and friends as he wasn’t expected to be on the boat, having earlier mentioned his intention of leaving.
