4th diver’s wife considering 2nd autopsy

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The autopsy on Rishi Nagassar has confirmed that the LMCS diver died from drowning.

Nagassar was one of the five LMCS divers who were conducting underwater maintenance on the pipeline located at the number 36 Sealine riser on Berth six at the Paria Fuel facility in Pointe-a-Pierre on February 25. Nagassar was in a hyperbaric chamber with colleagues Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry, Kazim Ali Jr and Christopher Boodram when an incident occurred. Only Boodram survived the accident.

His relatives and common-law wife Vanessa Kussie got confirmation of how he died following his autopsy at the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday.

Kussie told Guardian Media afterwards that the autopsy revealed he died from drowning but not the time of death.

“We will be looking at a second autopsy because I don’t know what is going with them regarding the time of death and we hope that a second autopsy … and this will be done privately,” Ms Kussie said.

The funeral service for Kurban was held yesterday.

The bodies of the four divers were recovered on separate days and their autopsies were completed last week.

Kussie expressed her disappointment with the manner in which the situation was being handled.

“No, I don’t think enough is being done and this whole situation just shows the level of corruption in Trinidad and Tobago,” she said.

“Right now, my family is broken and there are no words to explain how we are feeling at this time and to ask someone to wake me up from this dream. Our two-year-old does not understand what is happening right now, he is staying up 3 in the morning every day waiting for his father to come home.”

She added that Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited also does not seem to care.

“They have their secretary calling to ask how I am coping. This whole situation is insane for us to deal with at this time and what they were supposed to do on the dreadful day, they did not and they waited for them to die,” she said.

Kussie said at this time they don’t know if they will see a resolution on the matter.

On February 25 at 2.30 pm, Nagessar, Boodram, Kurban, Henry and Ali Jr were conducting underwater maintenance on the pipeline located at No 36 Sealine riser on Berth No 6 at the Paria facility when tragedy struck. The men were sucked into the 30-inch diameter pipe.