As the search continues for the 19-year-old San Juan resident who reportedly drowned at Tyrico Bay on New Year’s Day, a relative yesterday said the family was seeking answers, since the details in the matter were not adding up to them.
Samuel Somai reportedly went to the beach with a few friends who were also his co-workers from Food Basket, which is located along the Eastern Main Road in Mount Lambert, on New Year’s Day, before he reportedly drowned.
“It was just his friends and on average, it was about 8 of them, like four girls and four boys. I don’t know age, I never see them, I don’t know. All I heard, they working at Food Basket in Mt Lambert there,” a relative, who did not want to be identified, said yesterday.
The relative added, “We got a call after 3 that he drowned and he was on the shoreline and he was lying dead from the girl who called us. When we make some other calls and find out what’s going on, we heard it had a little altercation with the guy, his friend and the chair man, the guy who does rent the chairs.”
The man added that they heard the group was also reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
“Apparently, they were drinking and Sanjay told the chair man he wanted to go and take a dip and the chair man showed him exactly where to go and the friend said ‘no don’t go that side, come on this side where the wave is bigger on this side’ and he held his hand and carried him in the water, and well that was it. He never, he never came out after that, up to now.”
The relative said they heard that after Somai’s friend took him into the water, they both got into difficulties and it was the same men who rent chairs on the beach who had to go to their rescue. Unfortunately, the men were only able to save Somai’s friend.
The relative claimed the male friend who was saved, “ended up fighting with the people who were selling the chairs and so after that, every one of them, his co-workers, just jump in their vehicle and they left.”
Adding to the cloud over the issue, the relative claimed none of Somai’s friends contacted them after the incident.
“None of them never came here, they never call, one of them said they were playing with a friend that night like he was playing football, so you know that kind of thing happen and you playing football that hour of the night? So, what kind of friends you are?”
After the incident, Somai’s belongings were also left at a nearby station.
“They just took his clothes and they dropped it in Maracas, they dropped his ID in Maracas station and when they dropped his ID, they took his clothes and wallet and well his shoes and whatever the case may be and they dropped it in San Juan station after I enquired about it. So why they didn’t leave it at Maracas? With his wallet and whatever?”
He described Somai as a “good quiet boy, respectable, but I would say he was around the wrong company, wrong company carry him.”
He said the family was still reeling from shock over the incident and had returned to the beach four times hoping to find answers.
“Well, we hoping to get back his body to get closure to this to find out to go and do the autopsy and see what going on.”
The relative also stressed how dangerous Tyrico Bay is, and called for its closure.
“Never again, that beach should have closed, that beach too dangerous, they should have closed down that, don’t ever open back that at all...I see the kind of drops in that beach, I walk about 4/5 steps inside and it had a big drop right there,” the relative said.
“It dangerous, so close it off, I can’t study who doing this and who doing that in the beach to make money... That beach too dangerous and if they have lifeguard is no problem, but it has no lifeguards.”
Up to yesterday, the Coast Guard had been unable to find Somai’s body.
This was the second drowning incident at Tyrico in recent weeks. CEPEP worker Jada Wilson also drowned there on December 22 but at the time there was a rough seas alert in force.