(Trinidad Express) As clueless family members sat under an old bus shed in Pointe a Pierre awaiting word of the rescue plans for their loved ones, the management of Paria Fuel Trading Company called a press conference at the ball room across the road last night, and announced the deaths of the four men.
Terminal Operations Manager Collin Piper said the men were likely no longer alive, and an attempt would be made to flush the pipeline in order for the “bodies” to move along it, until a point where they could be retrieved, intact.
He said that while the company wanted to recover the bodies quickly, they wanted it to be done respectfully, so they could be returned to the families.
Paria said that the response to the incident had moved from “rescue to recovery”.
The families have rejected the decisions of Paria’s executive and experts, and called a press conference within minutes of hearing what was said.
The press conference was hosted by social activist and former political leader of the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP) Phillip Edward Alexander.
The families are asking why it took two days for the company to determine that it was unsafe to go in after the four men, who they knew were alive for at least several hours after their were sucked into the pipeline at around 2.30p.m last Friday.
They want the company to explain how a volunteer diver could have rescued one of the divers three hours after the incident, but Paria had refused to allow alone else to try a rescue, deeming it too unsafe.
They want the management to think of whether the men were alive for days, awaiting rescue.
And they want a police investigation into the decision made by Paria to declare their loved ones dead, without evidence.
At the Paria press conference, the managers said that it was “not entirely true’ that the company was not communicating effectively with the families and that a WhatsApp group was formed to keep in touch with them, and counselling services had been offered.
Asked about the family members having to keep vigil in a shed, the managers said that because of the volatility of the hydrocarbons being handled by Paria, limiting the number of people at the facility was advisable. The company also defended its initial response, saying it was immediate, using the best dive experts, including the coast guard.
“We responded to the full capability of the country” said Paria’s General Manager Mushtaq Mohammed.
Collin added: “Every decision we had to make carefully, and not further endanger life and limb”.
Told that it was a relative who rescued the lone survivor Christopher Boodram, management declined to say anything until the investigation was complete.
Mohammed said the company was moving from a rescue to a recovery operation, since it had determined it was not safe for anyone to go into the pipeline.
He said when the information on the condition of the interior of the pipeline was analysed, it was determined the probability of survival was very low and the result the risk of rescuers was “intolerable”.
He said a borescope (camera) and crawler were sent into the 1,200 feet long pipeline but it could not go in more than 120 feet, and the men could not be found.
He said it was not a easy decision, but taken in collaboration with multiple stakeholders.
Th families of the men were not mentioned as being part of the decision making.
Mohammed said the decision to move to body retrieval was made on Sunday afternoon, in conjunction with the contractors and experts from the commercial diving fraternity, and the coast guard.
Mohammed said he could not answer the question as to when it was determined that the men were no longer alive but the likelihood of survival was extremely low.
The company’s chairman Newman George read from a statement issued earlier in the day, which had stated “In collaboration with the state emergency response services including the Coast Guard and Trinidad & Tobago Fire Services as well as the Paria Incident Management Team (IMT) and various subject matter experts, we are in the final stages of formulating the next attempt.”
One of the missing men, Kazim Ali Jr, is the son of LMCS managing director Kazim Ali, who is quoted in the Paria new release as stating: ““We have been working closely with Paria … from the beginning of the incident to reach our divers. The Paria team has been fully supportive throughout this process and continue to provide all their resources to support our efforts, including people, capability and equipment.”
Paria said in its earlier press statement that according to Christopher Boodram, the crew member who managed to make his way back up the pipeline and was pulled out, the divers “fell into the pipeline” from LMCS’ hyperbaric chamber.
The families of the men involved are disputing the company claim that the divers ‘fell into’ the pipeline.
“I would like to believe that the divers aren’t sheep which would follow each other blindly” said Boodram’s brother, Larry Boodram.
Asked about this during the press conference, the management team declined to say anything further.