Authorities detain ferry crew members after drug checks reveal violations in Guyana’s worst marine catastrophe in a long time.
Printed On 21 Jul 2026
Authorities in Guyana say they’ve recovered 27 our bodies from a ferry that capsized off the nation’s coast with 179 individuals on board.
The MV Barima issued a misery name on Saturday night time, having overturned whereas ferrying passengers from the capital, Georgetown, to Port Kaituma in Guyana’s northwest.
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Officers mentioned on Monday that 69 individuals had been rescued, whereas 83 remained lacking. Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill described the sinking because the nation’s worst marine catastrophe in a long time.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips launched an investigation into potential negligence by the ferry’s crew within the lead-up to the accident.
Officers say that whereas the MV Barima was initially thought to have been carrying 116 passengers and 17 crew members, 32 individuals rescued from the catastrophe weren’t recorded within the ferry’s manifest, placing the variety of potential victims a lot increased.
Police have additionally introduced that the ferry’s captain and not less than one different crew member have been taken into custody after testing constructive for marijuana.
“We now have a zero tolerance for members of the crew consuming or smoking whereas at work. And for us to have constructive checks from the captain, that is severe,” Edghill mentioned.
Passengers had complained for years that officers at state-run ferry terminals have been promoting seats for money with out recording the true variety of passengers of their manifest, which Edghill known as “a felony motion”.
President Irfaan Ali visited survivors and their households in hospital.
“It was a deeply emotional expertise. I listened to their tales, shared of their ache and nervousness, and guaranteed them that each sensible measure could be taken to supply the assist and help they want,” he mentioned.
