When did the divers die?

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Four hours. That’s the time it took for rescue vessels to arrive at Berth No 6 to provide camera, robotic and diver support, after five divers disappeared inside a 30-inch diameter pipeline on February 25.

Why it took so long is one of the questions to be answered when the Shiv Sharma Investigating Committee begins its probe of the tragic deaths of four of the divers—Yusuff Henry, Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar and Kazim Ali Junior.

Tomorrow, another interesting piece of evidence will be uncovered when the autopsy on the body of Nagassar reveals his time of death. He was the last diver to be pulled from the No 36 Seariser pipeline. The first three bodies were recovered around 6 pm on Monday.

Autopsies done on the bodies of Henry and Kurban revealed that death was due to drowning. Nagassar’s body was found at 12.35 am on Thursday but unlike the other divers, it was intact and decomposition had not set in. This has led relatives to believe that he was the last to die.

Was it possible he had found an air pocket and was waiting for rescue? Were the other divers still alive when Paria Fuel Trading Company executives held a press conference saying they were dead on Sunday night? These are some of the questions the committee will answer.

Underwater camera

Footage taken from inside the pipeline will form a crucial part of the investigation. Kazim Ali Jr, whose father Kazim Ali Sr owns LMCS, had gone into the pipeline to capture footage of the seabed line. LMCS is the firm contracted to do maintenance work on the pipeline by Paria Fuel Trading Company.

When a vortex was created and the rush of water began sucking the divers further into the pipeline around 3 pm, the team above the surface knew something had gone wrong. Contractor personnel noticed suction on the water surface an hour after the diving operations started at 2 pm. A standby diver entered the water but did not see any of the divers. For two and a half hours, no other diver went in. Why? And what was happening during this period is also crucial to the investigation?

At 5.30 pm, a certified diver entered the pipeline to attempt a rescue although a senior Paria official tried to stop him. Christopher Boodram was rescued and there was good reason to go back in and save the other divers but that was not allowed. Why did Paria officials abort the rescue mission? That is another matter the committee has to probe.

Footage of Kazim Ali Jr’s camera, which is believed to have been found, will be crucial to the Shiv Sharma Investigating Committee.

At a press conference on Friday, Guardian Media asked attorney Prakash Ramadhar whether the LCMS monitoring team had evidence of what transpired below. Ramadhar said yes and added that his team has already gathered evidence to identify the person who made the decision not to allow other certified divers to go back into the water.

What happened after Friday?

Underwater robotics equipment probed the pipeline for hours on Friday night. At 11 am on Saturday, there were reports that the rescue vessels had encountered obstacles 100 feet into the pipeline. The toxic fumes could have killed the men unless they had found air pockets in the line. It was then that rescue vessels were called off.

Two hours later, at midday on Saturday, Energy Minister Stuart Young and senior officials of Paria, including Mushtaq Mohammed, Michael Wei and Newman George, met with the divers’ families at Paria’s staff club.

Young announced then that pumping will start in two hours. But it was not until ten hours later that the diesel pump arrived on site. Why did it take so long? Another question for the committee to probe.

There are reports that the rescue operation was delayed by the late issuing of work permits. Paria executives were concerned about facing liability and did not think precious time was being wasted by bureaucracy, Ramadhar said.

On Sunday at 2 am, during an attempt to remove the hyperbaric chamber with the crane, the equipment malfunctioned and a new crane had to be mobilised to move the chamber. Was Kazim Ali Jr’s camera found at that time? Up to 3 pm on that day, the operation was still considered a rescue mission. However, at 8 pm on Sunday, Paria executives announced that the men were dead and it was now a recovery operation. Relatives were not informed beforehand.

What this expert believes

Industrial expert and former superintendent of Area West Vishnu Ramjattan knows the Paria pipelines inside out. Ramjattan, who was head of Area West, the jurisdiction of Berths No 5 and 6, believes the men were already dead by Saturday.

He said the line contains toxic fumes and when he first heard about the incident at 9 pm on Friday, he spent seven hours trying to call his colleagues to lend his expertise on how the men could be saved. When his frantic calls went unanswered, Ramjattan speculated they were dead.

He said based on his experience, there were two reasons which could cause the men to be pulled into the pipeline. One is an extreme backwash from an oncoming vessel or the removal of an expansion plug which would create a rush of water as the men worked in the hyperbaric chamber which was built to allow them to safely do maintenance works.

Ramjattan said he is willing to assist in any way he can. He drew a series of diagrams to show what happens in the execution of such works.

Answers needed

Minister Young has asked the country to give the committee a chance to do its work independently. In the meantime, all major projects and non-routine operations at Paria have been suspended. Operations are limited to routine maintenance.

Young said an external independent review will be done on all risk assessments, methods, statements, hazard analysis before the authorisation of work permits internally at Paria included when dealing with subcontractors.

All contractor employees and safety orientations will be re-done to ensure safety protocols are upheld and followed. LMCS has been removed from the site and taken off all work. Ramadhar and his team are representing the interests of Boodram and the families of Fyzal Kurban and Yusuff Henry. Vanessa Kussie, the common-law wife of Nagassar, is waiting to see what the autopsy reveals. The OWTU and attorney Ramadhar want Paria executives to step down. The rest of the country is awaiting answers.