Mom agonises over drowned son at Flugtagwww.guardian.co.ttDenise Quamina said she looked on helplessly as her 14-year-old son Nicholas Simmons disappeared underwater after a pirogue sank at Dhein’s Bay, Chaguaramas, on Sunday. Yesterday the anguished mother said she would never be able to erase that image from her mind. “I saw him go down. I never got to speak to him,” she said. Simmons, who could not swim, was unable to stay afloat after the mishap which occured during Sunday’s Redbull Flugtag event. He was among six members of a close-knit Princes Town family who took a ride on the pirogue to get to the event. Quamina said she, her husband, Lenny, daughter, Jamie Lee Belgrave, Belgrave’s husband and their three-year-old son, were rescued after the overloaded fishing pirogue, which was carrying about 15 passengers, sank a short distance from Williams Bay. She said Simmons, who could not swim, held on to the bow of the boat and sank with it.
She said: “He was a silent and quiet child. He did not talk very much. Out of fright he held on to the boat while everyone else was screaming and grabbing and pulling and snatching something to survive. It was chaotic out there. “I saw him holding on to the boat and the boat was going down, going down. He came up for a while, but I went down and when I came up I saw him go down for the last time. That was it. I never got to speak to him. “I feel grief, a great loss. He was a gem of a child. He just started to live his life. Who can compensate me for my loss?” she asked. Simmons was a Form One student of Cowen Hamilton High School. Speaking about the accident, Quamina said: “There must be some legislation for people who operate those boats. They should have lifejackets and protective gear when they are carrying passengers.”
The distraught mother also criticised the organisers of the event, saying they should have anticipated the traffic gridlock and made proper arrangements with boat owners to transport passengers. She added: “The organisers could have spoken to the boat owners who wanted to work on that day and make some money. “Tell them let’s give you a licence for the day, ensure that you had the necessary life equipment on board. “The Coast Guard should also have been patrolling the waters, because lots of people were transporting passengers on that day,” she said. Coast Guard officers up to late yesterday were continuing their search for Simmons and another young man, Dimitri John, 22. Public relations officer of the Coast Guard, Lt Kirk Jean-Baptiste, said yesterday efforts would continue late into the night until the two were found. He said rescuers were using several interceptors, dive teams and a Special Anti-crime Unit of T&T (SAUTT) helicopter in an attempt to find the two who went missing on Sunday afternoon. The two were among a group who boarded a fishing pirogue near Schuller Street, Carenage, in an attempt to beat the traffic on the road to the event.
A short distance away from the event at Williams Bay, the boat began taking on water and eventually sank. The passengers remained in the water until they were rescued by Coast Guard officers. However, Simmons and John were not found. A six-year-old girl, who was also on the pirogue, was injured. Investigators told the T&T Guardian the pirogue was overloaded and was not equipped with life vests or safety devices for passengers. Police said the owner of the vessel was interviewed after the incident and other eye-witnesses would be interviewed today. In another incident, at around 11 am yesterday the body of Steven Singh, 19, of Enterprise, Chaguanas, was recovered at Williams Bay. Singh disappeared while swimming with a friend early Sunday morning. He had been camping with friends at the Red Bull Flugtag venue in anticipation of the event which began at 10.30 am on Sunday. Investigations are continuing.