A 70-year-old fisherman, an experienced swimmer, drowned in Tobago yesterday.
Dead is Quilton Callender, also known as "Putus," of Arnos Vale.
Callender was a former principal of the Buccoo Government School and also a priest attached to the Anglican diocese in Tobago.
The incident occurred shortly before 9 am at Grafton Beach, Black Rock, yesterday.
Eyewitnesses said Callender and another man were using a kayak to get to his pirogue, named Tomorrow, which was anchored approximately 100 metres from the shore when the kayak toppled over.
The T&T Guardian understands the other man returned to the shore but Callender continued to swim to the pirogue. A short while later, he got into difficulty and disappeared under the water.
An open water diver with seven years experience, Kester Herbert, arrived on the scene and conducted a search.
"Just before nine, my wife called me and told me that Putus, as I know him by, just went under the water and drowned so I was looking at home for a mask, grabbed a fin, came down on the beach, found out where he went down.
"I went out with a pirogue and while in the process of searching, I saw him underneath the water and I went under and brought him up but he was already dead," Herbert said.
The body was recovered approximately 20 minutes after he went under. Efforts were made to revive him. Paramedics arrived on the scene about 45 minutes later. Emergency medical technicians also tried to resuscitate him. He was taken to the Scarborough General Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
An angry mob of villagers questioned the EMTs' tardy response and also their reason for taking Callender away from the scene after he was unresponsive for approximately one hour.
Herbert said there was no way Callender could have been saved.
"He was dead already. I'm an experienced diver and from my experience this is not the first time I have been around someone who drowned, I knew he was dead. So whether the ambulance came early or not, still no chance," Herbert said.
Officers from the Old Grange Police Station visited the scene and are continuing investigations.