Rescue efforts preparing for grim realities
There is little new to report in the case of the six fishermen still missing at sea, and as News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports, the cold reality is we may never know exactly what happened.
Audrey Matura Shepherd, Family Spokesperson
“I could confidently say that they are at the stage where they are not giving up however they are realizing that at some point they would have to come to terms with the fact that there has to be a cut off time.”
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
And according to both authorities and the families, this Saturday will be the final big thrust in the search for six of the seven men who disappeared on November fourth.
Commandant Cedric Borland, Belize National Coast Guard
“We have scaled down a bit but they still believe that they are out there. We don’t know what we can find out there but we are making an effort again on Saturday. I have spoken with the Commander B.D.F. and the Commissioner of Police and we’ll be getting their support and I believe this is going to have some conclusion to this search and rescue mission that we’ve been working on.”
The reality of that statement will hit the families of the missing hard.
Audrey Matura Shepherd
“They [are] really in limbo, imagine they have to come to terms that they may never find these people. They would have to in their minds resolve that they could be dead which would be very difficult because in their heart they’ll always feel that they are out there and they’ll come home any time now and they’ll have to find a way to move on with their lives and it’s so difficult for them, you can’t imagine.”
“One of the things that’s been bothering the family is that we know there have been photographs of Mr. Swift’s body in the water taken on the day, I think it was Saturday, and those have since been circulated and we find that is in very poor taste.”
Today spokesperson Audrey Matura Shepherd told us their scenarios as to what may have happened to the men have been narrowed down to two theories.
Audrey Matura Shepherd
“It could genuinely be an accident, however we still want to find more evidence of that accident. They have combed the waters for the missing engine and they can’t find it so they know that’s a possibility. However, after the post mortem, they realize there is also still the possibility that it could be foul play; it’s just that again, we don’t have enough evidence definitely to say that it is foul play or not.”
The massive, and costly, search and rescue effort over the last ten days has been jointly coordinated and carried out by the Belize Defence Force, the Coast Guard and the Police Department. Today authorities stressed that there are lessons to be learnt from this national tragedy.
Brig. Gen. Lloyd Gillett, Commander, Belize Defence Force
“I think people need to heed the warnings from the weather bureau in terms of the sea state, people need to heed the warning to always wear life jackets and also to keep communication systems on their boats and also to raise the alarm as quickly as possible. We cannot start to do anything until we hear that people are missing.”
Tonight News Five understands that if no new evidence is discovered this weekend, the families will plan a memorial service next week for their loved ones.
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
We have also been informed that next week Thursday there will be a special sitting of the Supreme Court in Belize City to pay tribute to Magistrate Richard Swift.
