Gail Alexander
The bodies of the four divers involved in the recent tragic accident at Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited were retrieved without any serious decomposition.
Energy Minister Stuart Young confirmed that at yesterday's media briefing - where he stepped back from discussing compensation for the divers' families but pointed out there were laws on that.
Out of the five LMCS divers who were working on the Paria pipeline when the incident occurred, only Christopher Boodram survived.
The bodies of three divers were retrieved Monday - Fyzal Kurban, Kazim Ali Jr and Yusuf Henry. The fourth, Rishi Nagassar was recovered yesterday.
Young who said the tragic issue gripped T&T all week, expressed condolences on behalf of all citizens and Government to the divers’ families and “all affected by the tragic loss of these four gentlemen, nationals of T&T,” Young said saluting the divers.
“I think we all breathed a sigh of relief; fortunately the bodies were retrieved without any serious decomposition.”
He added that one of the concerns in the operation was that there might be dismembered bodies and they would not come out in their full form.
"I wish God’s grace on the families, may He give them strength. The nation's sensible right-thinking citizens have been praying for the men and their safety and after at a certain stage, for retrieval of their bodies,”
"I offer my sincerest condolence to the families who have had to suffer this unfortunate loss of their loved ones."
On compensation for families, Young said he wasn't getting into conversations on that yesterday.
"There are laws that apply, there are a number of laws that would apply here including common laws. Let the families get the necessary advice etc and I hope if it comes to that, the right people will do what is right in the circumstances."
He also noted LMCS was the divers' employers, "Let's see how the world unfolds."
Young thanked all who participated in the recovery effort.
"Now that families are going to be allowed closure and grieving, we continue to ask for God's intervention with them and they be given strength as they go through these very difficult times. Paria has been instructed to provide these families, with comforts and any support."
"When I was there last Saturday they'd already located an appropriate counsellor and his firm to offer the support."
Young said he'd received messages "throughout the ordeal" by interested people concerned about the divers' families. He said he knew the type of trauma experienced and emotions that were running very high understandably then.
"Hopefully now that there is allowing some closure for the families, they can go through their grieving process and I'm asking Paria to ensure - and LMCS, the employer of these workers - that they're provided with the necessary support as they go through these difficult times."
