Final Report and Compensation

This episode of Swindled may contain graphic descriptions or audio recordings of disturbing events which may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised Petritin has a long and rich history, dating back to the first oil well drilled in our country in the mid eighteen hundreds, which firmly places it amongst the oldest existing oil and gas companies in the world. Petrrin, as the national petroleum company, operates to optimize the return from its resources for the benefit of its shareholders and the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago Petrrin has a hundred year history through its predecessor companies, we will therefore continue that legacy and continue as a responsible state enterprise in a sustainable manner Trinidad and Antobago is home to one of the world's oldest oil industries But for more than half a century controlled almost entirely foreign interests The country gained independence from the United Kingdom in nineteen sixty two And in the decades that followed, its government strategically and diplomatically wrested control of its natural resources away from corporations like BP, Shell, and Texaco Trinidad's prolonged effort to modernize and nationalize the country's energy sector Culminated in nineteen ninety three. creation of Petrotron, which consolidated the nation's oil assets under a single state owned entity progress come at a cost id growth, outpaced safety standards and infrastructure Environmental damage was widespread And accidents were frequent and mostly swept under the rug However, there was one incident that the country could not forget A moment that exposed the true cost of neglect and signaled the need for reformation within Trinidad's oil industry It happened on october seventeenth, nineteen eighty five crew working for Trend Talk One of the state entities later folded in the petrogen was nearing the completion of a recommissioning project on a quarter mile subsea pipeline They ran along the floor of the Gulf of Paria, between offshore berths five and six near Bint the Pier fininal step was a routine task unbolting the slip line that had temporarily blocked flow in the riser vertical section of pipe that extends out of the water and connects to the surface facility More than a dozen workers arrived at the site on a steam powered barge just before noon that day proceeded this planned By twelve thirty, the two hundred and fifty pounds of steel blind had been removed Moments later A massive fireball erupted and gofing the vessel and everyone on it. The workers dove into the ocean to escape the heat struggling to swim in their heavy helmets and boots It was a hopeless endeavor. E within two hundred feet of the barge was coated in burning oil even the surface of the water The blaze was so intense that fishermen more than twenty miles away reported seeing the flames whipped into a frenzy by strong winds blowing directly back onto the boat The Fire service arrived within ten minutes and quickly contained to the flames The scene continued to burn for another two hours. when the all clear was given around three PM. Carnage was assessed and men were pronounced dead aboutb half from burns or smoke inhalation The others most likely drowned trying to escape The remains of two men were discovered in the bathroom of birth number five arms wrapped around one another in a desperate embrace during their final moments of terror few others were recovered underwater still clinging to the pipes for dear life Miraculously, one man was still breathing when rescuers pulled him out of the oil thickened water died on the way back to shore H name was Rom John Kurbin He was thirty eight years old And then the days leading up to the tragedy according to his family Ramjon confided that he sensed death On the horizon It was an unimaginable disaster that upted the country fourteen men lost their lives after a major explosion at Trintxs with number five. Barges and other vessels went up in Fleams, resulting in four million dollars in losses Early media reports speculated that a passing vessel had struck the pipeline on which the Trentalk crew was working Theory was soon disproven because there were no moving ships in the area And even if there have been, A collision wouldn't explain the catastrophe that followed Because the pipeline was supposed to have been fully purged of anything flammable But it wasn't. The government appointed investigation, later determined that the pipe still contained thousands of barrels of liquid hydrocarbons, and when the crew removed the flange They unknowingly released a cloud of volatile vapor into the surrounding air took was a spark. backfiring boiler or maybe a stay strike from a metal tool. investigators couldn't say for certain Regardless, the result would have been the same Fourteen men, aged thirty five to fifty lost their lives in what remains the deadliest industrial accident in Trinidad and the Bago's century old oil industry. According to investigators, the tragedy stemmed from quote the non observance of standard safety procedures, lack of planning, coordination, and proper supervision within the various departments involved in the removal of slip blanks pipeline was not suitably prepared for the operation planned. The investigation concluded who exactly should have been held accountable was never made clear The Trinidadian government never publicly released the full report of the investigation. No one was ever charged or even' fined instead Certain executives and supervisors were quietly shuffled between departments in the years leading up to the petrogen merger While unions and workers continued to repeat their familiar, often ignored demands for basic safety protections And worst of all as one local newspaper wrote government run oil companies treated the families of the dead men, quote Widows and children suddenly without their breadwinners received no financial assistance rather die They were essentially abandoned. And it wouldn't be the last time he know Is is going on for yearses is not now but up for yes and yes and yes That's a Visa carurbine daughter of Rom John Kurb The man who temporarily survived the nineteen eighty five Trend Talk explosion the anguish in her voice isn't about the day she lost her father s about something else Something that happened thirty seven years later. and a haunting echo of the past Fiza's brother Bizel Curbin a commercial diver be sent to the same exact location to work on the same exact pipe where he would arguably suffer an even more horrific fate than their fatherers. An offshore maintenance job goes catastrophically wrong, and four men are left for dead inside an underwater pipeline On this episode have Swindled Taxpayer dollars that were wasted. Millions of million do billions ify his goots andirect responsible for the collapse of the entire system in mean the srol of some god in a sc. It's official there are now two new companies to replace state owned, the Petroin, the Heritage Petroleum Company and Parrier Fuel Trading Company. The Parrier Fuel trrading Company will be located at Point A Per and will handle fuel logistics and the energy trading aspect of the business We're told this company will ensure fuel security for the country by supplying fuels for automotive, marine, and aviation applications in addition to bunkering and selling crude oil to the world chronic financial losses Mounting debt aging infrastructure and declining production. ultimately push the Trinidad and Tobago government to shut down petrogen twenty five years in operation. in twenty eighteen Officials announced the company would be dismantled and its function split returning in some ways to a structure reminiscent of the past Prodion of oil and gas was transferred to Heritage Petroleum Company while distribution, importing and storage. were assigned a Paria fuel trading company That lder company in twenty twenty one. decided to recommission the quarter mile subsea pipeline, connecting berths five and six near Point U Pier a line that had set idle in the years since the refinery had closed Tara Fuel brought in a series of subcontractors and maintenance crews to bring it back online And by february twenty twenty two project was nearing completion On one step remained repepairing a damaged section of birth six sixty foot tall riser The work would have to be done underwater. Pa turnurn to land and Marine Construction Services Limited LMCS firm whose divers were trained exactly kind of job thirty six year old Christopher Budram was one of those divers And he was' eager to get back to work A month earlier, he had lost his mother that he contracted COVID nineteen Returning to the water felt like coming home Ever since he was a child, the sea was where he felt most at ease On the morning of the job Friday, february twenty fifth, twenty twenty two. Christopher woke at four AM It was cold and rainy Like usual, he said a prayer, exercised, ate breakfast and kissed his wife and three children, goodbye before heading to the dock at Peria's offices around five hundred thirty. By then, the rest of the LMCS dive crew was arriving one by one They were as close as brothers There was Kazim Al Leei Junr. Someone Christopher had known his entire life They were the same age, raised around the same work Chris called him small caz a nod to his father, Kazimali Sr. The owner of LMCS Th thenen there was Rishi Nagasa from everyone called Blacks. At forty eight, he was one of the most seasoned divers on the team. the most experienced was Fizel Kurbin known as Fizy At fifty seven, he was often referred to as the group's father figure had been diving since before some of the others were even born includluding thirty one year old use of Henry the youngest member of the crew that day. Christopher Yusuf was returning after time away. Just months earlier, it lost two brothers, sixteen days apart One to COVID the other to a blood clot This job was a welcome distraction. After receiving their work permits from Peria Five men boarded a barge for the twenty minute trip out to berth six Once on site, they gathered for a toolbox meeting to review the job scope they were being asked to do wasn't exactly routine. but it wasn't out of the ordinary either damaged section of the riser. which had already been replaced with a temporary blank set about fifteen feet below the surface thirty inches in diameter. The assignment was to remove the blank and bolt the new permanent section into place. Less than a full day's work, probably If everything went according to plan An eight by eight hyperbaric chamber had already been secured around that portion of the riser Divers called it a habitat a pressurized enclosure that allowed them to work underwater in a dry, breathable environment, with the air continuously pumped inside Above, supervisors could monitor the operation via a mounted wall camera. There was also an emergency radio available. Just in case something went wrong Later that morning, the five LMCS divers suited up pulling on their wetsuits and strapping on their scuba gear Before entering the water, they paused for a photo Christopher Bujum, Blacks, Fizy, and Yusuf descended fifteen feet and entered the habitat through its hatch Small cs remained tops side Keeping an eye on the job from the boat. by one hundred forty five PM They were already halfway done temporary blank had been removed Fen resurfaced briefly for lunch thirty minutes later, they dove back down Their next task was to install the new section of the riser First, they had to remove the migration barrier inside the pipe It consisted of two plugs. lower plug was inflatable designed to expand and seal the pipe preventing dangerous fumes from entering the habitat. Above it, said a rigid metal plug a safeguard. against falling tools that could damage the inflatable seal below That one had to come out first and it loosened without much resistance inflatable plug, however was another story around two forty three PM small cazs who had just come down to check on the team volunteered to swim back up to fetch an extra wrench a moment captured on the GoPro camera, mounted to his helmet When he returned, Rishi Nagasa was already working the valves on the plug That's when Christopher Budrum noticed it The water level inside the habitat was rising That wasn't supposed to happen. Let's get out of here, he shouted lunging for the hatch But it was like his body was frozen in place Bnded zero gravity He grabbed the sides of the chamber, trying to steady himself. and everything started to spin All of a sudden, everything went pitch black. Pitch black Chris felt like he was being hurled through space at impossible speeds. His eyes burned H throat burned. hisis ears ringed. He couldn't breathe It was like being caught in a tornado, he said, beinging violently slammed against metal and battered by debris. Unbelievable nightmare. Chris said he realized what had happened when his body had a bend in the pipe the elbow, as they call it, where the vertical rid are met the horizontal line, stretching across the seafloor, sixty feet below That point I He tried to slow himself, pressing his hands and feet against the walls. It did nothing. The pipe flew past him, hundreds of feet in seconds. It felt like an eternity. He couldn't hold his breath any longer. See you soon, mama, he said to himself Then it stopped His body came to a rest And suddenly he could breathe again For a moment, Chris didn't know if he was alive or dead Within seconds, he realized there was a fate far worse. It was as if he had been sealed inside a metal coffin He lay on his back, his body submerged, only his face above the Oily water pressed in on him from all sides. barely inches from his shoulders The ceiling less than half a foot from his face There was no room to move. every inch of his body throbbed with pain He heard a voice Chris of a small cast I'm inside the pipe. Cash shouted. Chris answered back I'm inside the pipe too There were other voices in the distance Chris began pulling himself through the darkness toward them. calling out names H cazil was closest. hisis leg was broken Next was Yusuf, who said he had shattered his hand and foot Hilm was Fizzy Mostly unscathed Deepest in the pipe was Rishi Black's Nagasaw He was unresponsive, but alive. I could hear him Moaning in pain. All five of them were there. trarapped in a small pocket of air formed by the contours of the seabed. The air they were breathing had been sucked in with them And it was in limited supply Chris suggested forming a human chain with each man locking his feet under the armpit of the man ahead of them Together they would push and pull their way through the pipe until they were free, he said. And then send help for Rishi foroma are chin like Lma silisten I po my foot anashula Wnder Yf cause five certificate for everybody before they could move The men were faced with a life or death decision. Which way should they crawl They ended up at Birth six, where they entered, there would be a chance to escape But if they ended up at birth five which was sealed shut It would mean certain death. Everything had happened so fast Chris didn't even know which way he had been poured into the pipe first or feed first. The others reasoned with him Chris was the furthest away from the riser so probablyroably the last one to be dragged in. That would make him the front of the chain, they concluded. lead the way Majority rules, Chris conceded No matter what happens next They were doing it together The men said a brief prayer and began to move dragging themselves by agonizing inch. and the unknown first sign of trouble above the water. faint noise, followed by a slight shutder of the barge and a few bubbles breaking the surface. camera feed from inside the habitat, which was rarely monitored in real time, had gone dark. LMCS diving supervisor Andrew Fara was the first to notice He suited up and went down to scope out the scene himself when Andrew reached the chamber It was empty tely emp There were no divers, no tools Even the light was gone. The only explanation Fara told to those waiting on the boat when he returned was that everything had been sucked into the pipeline. An emergency call went out Nearby, Nicholas Kurbin, one of Fizy's sons heard the transmission He immediately called his brother Michael Our father is stuck in the pipeline at birth six, he said Everybody on the barge is shaking No one knows what to do. Within minutes, Michael and Nicholas recruited their uncle, Ronald Ramatar and a friend, Corey Crawford all four were trained divers They were on site within forty minutes Already in full gear They found LMCS supervisors and Paria officials gathered on the barge, discussing options for a rescue operation wasting time How long they missing? One of the Curban brothers asked two hours Okay We're going in We don't think that's a good idea. Someone from Para protested Ronald and Corey exchanged a look then dove in. without hesitation Meanwhile, sixty feet below, after nearly an hour of steady, excruciating progress the human chain's movement through the pipeline came to an abrupt stop It'd reached the end of the air pocket beyond that point was completely flooded They wanted to survive. they would need to crawl through an unknown stretch of water a more positive development, however was that both Fizy Kurbin and Christopher Budram I found oxygen tanks they could share with the others buying themselves more time but not much Christopher volunteered to push forward and scout what was ahead He took one of the tanks and disappeared into the abyss It was gone for what seemed like forever but eventually emerged with bad news They would never make it as a group, Chris told them There was too much water and not enough oxygen to share againgain It was decision time. I phone one time five phone one also He was able to move well enough to get back to get you just look up All right And Imediate S Jan with everybody agreed that we would pull foos and come back for helpll. I promise each and every one of them that I'll be back friend If I can't come back I'll send help It was decided that Chris and Fizy would go ahead and come back with help small caz and use of panicked. No, brother, you can't go. We all going to die. I have to go, brother Boy, Chris told them If I stay here None of we seeing our children I have to get help small cs grabbed onto Chris's legs, refusing to let go Chris had to kick free The last thing he heard was their voices begging as they slipped back beneath the water. Chris started swimming It fellt like twenty minutes before he reached another air pocket You broke the surface, gasping than moments later Thizy surfaced behind him There's more water ahead, Chris said Let's wait Vizy replied Time was running out I can't wait, brother. I have to get help. Chris put his mouthpiece back in and pushed forward again The next stretch felt endless Breathing grew harder and shorter, the tank was running low Chris searched frantically for another pocket of air, but it never appeared And just as he began to accept that This is where it was all going to end His hand breressed against something cold. Another oxygen tank Chris jemmed the oil covered mouthpiece between his teeth and kept it going minutes later, you reached a dead end. That was the elbow of the pipeline From there, Chris turned upward climbing the vertical riser. until he broke through was the habitat. It've gone the right way But whatever joy Chris may have felt was short lived when he realized There was no one inside the chamber waiting to pull him out No, none, none am I. No no my algoln family was inside the with' for me No rescue there fol Nody was inside that chamber When I see that I wasn't sure if I wasd liveving still. Christopher couldn't lift himself out of the riser The water level was too low form was out of reach His only hope was the chain hanging above Chris jumped for it five or six times before he managed to grab it But he had nothing left He was too exhausted, injured, and drenched in oil to climb Chris found another chain to help suspend himself out of the water That's where he broke He started crying and screaming slamming the chain against the pipe in defeat It felt like days had passed by before you heard that knock was coming from outside the pipe Next Daint light seered overhead in the habitat Chris's eyes struggled to adjust I swear to God it was the angel of death coming for me. Chris recalled told myself that this was the light that people talk about Suddenly, a silhouette appeared Chris were coiled in fright Who is you? It's me, Raleigh. your neighbor By's brother in law Ronald Ramatar R save me Save me, boy Ronald tried to pull him out, but couldn't do it alone Chris was too slick with oil just then. Right on cue The other diver, Coreory Crawford, entered the habitat. They found a piece of rope and tied two loops for Chris's feet, which they used to drag him out Christopher Budrom collapsed on the platform It was around six PM. It'd been in the pipeline for over three hours They're all in there, he told the divers Vizy wasn't too far behind me goo back for them now. The others are in the air pockets waiting They gave Chris an oxygen tank and helped him swim to the surface where the LMCS barge was anchored Nicholas and Michael Kirbin were there to greet him my call Go on sa your f and Michel say, all right, can' start the place on the on the habitat on top of the habitat on d like But we been might gr see if Um I you some profine at these Your fight ask. Christopher Buram had to be prevented from performing the rescue himself They told him he was in shock and rushed him back to shore and then to the hospital below, Ronald Ramatar stayed in the habitat waiting and listening for other signs of life He picked up the chain block Chris had used and struck the pipe four times Ronald said he felt the vibration of four taps in return Soor he did it again And again And again, the same response every time Chris was right B Z Kurbin Kazim Ali Junr. Yoseuf Henry and Rishi Nagasau were' still alive The following is a paid advertisement for the Swintle valued Listener Rewards prorogram. Are you tired of hearing advertisements in Sindled like this one? Do you wish there was more swindled content to distract you from your miserable existence? 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Please, just give us your money Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young has confirmed that he's received a briefing on an incident involving four employees of a marine engineering company who have been reported missing following a mishap during an underwater project. at a birth operated by Paria Trading Company Limited in Point opion On Friday afternoon, five divers working for LMCS Limited, a diving company, contracted to perform underwater maintenance work for Paro Fuel Trading Company Limited were conducting an underwater maintenance exercise when an incident took place resulting in the divers going missing One of the divers has since been rescued Reports are that he was taken to hospital where he remains in stable condition aria Fuel Trading compompany issued its first public statement just after nine PM on february twenty fifth, twenty twenty two neearly seven hours after the incident The company confirmed that five men had been trapped inside a pipeline during an underwater maintenance operation at Birth six At the time, only one of those men had been recovered stillill Paria assured the public, quote Further rescue efforts are currently underway with the support of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard That last part wasn't entirely true. Ten members of the Coast Guard had arrived roughly twenty minutes earlier quickly determined that they were neither equipped nor willing to attempt a rescue The space was too confined, and they were not trained for such a feat Plus the cause of the incident was still unknown This blend probably contained hazardous material As Lieutenant Commander Edric Hargraves later explained The risk were too great. He advised Peria's on site technical lead, Katherine Balcuson that specialized commercial diving equipment would be required Fortunately people present who were prepared to act the LMCS divers and volunteers, including Michael and Nicholas Kurbin. of the training and the gear. In fact, Michael had already made an attempt nearly an hour earlier. He descended into the riser and reached the elbow on the sea flloor, but his tether prevented him from going any farther. You never saw the divers, he said Still There was hope around eight to PM. Some LMCS personnel reported hearing knocking from inside the pipe. with additional equipment arriving and more experienced divers on site The group prepared for another attempt a intervened Oicials told them they did not have permission to enter the pipeline. when the volunteers move to proceed anyway. Amed Coast Guard personnel stepped in Heria insisted no one would enter the water until a camera was inserted into the pipeline to assess conditions. All the while, time kept slipping away. By ten PM, the camera still. had not arrived. By then word of the accident had spread through the community Famies of the trapped men began gathering at the pererot facility bird for answers They weren't allowed inside Instead, they were forced to wait in a nearby bus lot standing in the rain with no food, no water, and no access to restrooms No one from Para came out to accommodate them. All they could do was wait and hopeed the company was doing more for the men inside the pipe than it was for the families outside Back at Birth six, it was well past midnight now, and the rescue eff was no closer to success. the remotely operated camera they had waited hours for couldn't make it past the elbow of the riser A second ROV was too large to fit inside the thirty inch pipe Another camera arrived around three AM there no better. aboutbout two hundred feet in It encountered a scuba tank wedged against the wall stopped it in its tracks So Paria's incident management team decided to try inserting the camera from the other side at birth five That attempt also failed miserably The oil inside the pipeline was too thick This ability was zero All the while, the volunteer divers, ready and willing to risk their lives, stood by helplessly. At this point, their friends and family have been stuck in the pipe for more than fifteen hours. A hushed acceptance fell over the once bustling scene So still, you can almost hear pen drop or if you listened closely enough Rhythmic tapping deep inside the pipeline which continued. and through the morning on Saturday february twenty sixth, twenty twenty two. Nearly twenty four hours after the incident Trinidad as a Minister of Energy, Stuart Young. representatives from Peria Fuel Tading Company met with the families for the first time They assured them they were doing quote everything possible to rescue their loved ones Knowing full well that zero peria approved manned attempts had even taken place Even as Kazima Alee Sr and LMCS continued to plead for permission to try again Another entire day passed without any updates On Sunday, february twenty seventh, twenty twenty two Hera announced a surprise press conference at seven PM seated at the table where General manager Mushag Muhamed Operations manager and incident commander, Colin Piper And Chairman Newman George. I would now like to invite our chairman, mister Newman George to provide a current update Good evening to the media. and to the listening and piew in public. A joint meeting with LMCS Limited Barrier fuel trading Company Limited Tin that and to beo cuse gard. as well as independent subject matter experts Tod agreed on a way forward With respect to the location, and recovery of the four diververs who have been trapped in its thirty inch pipeline Bed on advice all the experts The operation has now moved from rescue to recovery from Rcue. to recovery Even though there was no definitive proof the men were dead General mananager Mus Tag Mohamed admitted The company said its decision was based on two factors extremely low likelihood of survival and the risk of endangering additional lives and any further rescue attempt Our focus now, he said is to treat these bodies with respect during the process of recovery and return to their loved ones Even that respectful recovery process had already been decided area plan to fill the pipeline with water Blush them out a liquid displacement process whereere we are going to displace that liquid aterate. to be able to move those bodies Ver slowly point where they could be recovered Very slortly very carefully very respectfully. point where they could be recovered The announcement stunned everyone especially the families who remained camped outside Peria's facility, patiently waiting for news. Why did they have to learn about these decisions from the TV reports like everyone else Pa be so heartless. Because I am speaking not only for myself but all the family. Wh is going to this ordeal right now? I don't wish anyone to be going to what I am going to right now. It does who can That's Vanessa Cusi. Is she Nagasaw's wife. She couldn't understand why Peria was giving up so easily and the plan to simply pump their bodies out of the pipeline On deepen the trauma. Theesivers are willing to go down and still take them out one by one Please do not flush Oh, they won't come out in pieces We are pleading to them. We are be and them You're not listant The families were not the only ones blindsided by Pia's decisions The volunteer divers would spent more than two days of birth six waiting for permission to act learned the news the same way everyone else did on their phones Michael Kurbin, in particular, was incensed He organized his own press conference in the bus lot where the families had been waiting determ and they'll set the record straight. There was time to save the men, he told the cameras He and his brother were ready to enter the pipeline to rescue their father Gazim Oi Sr and the LMCS divers were prepared to go in after his son and the others P a fuel trading company had stood in their way. We was ready. Everybody was ready br everybody who upil the day. All these guys are tired Everybody is just open I know you want to recover them. by pushing them with pressure You know what I wna do to them Michael said that at the time, he demanded to know who made the call to prevent people like him from entering the water. Who was it that decided to abandon his father and the other men No one at Peria would give him a straight answer But Michael believed he already knew It was Colin Piper, he announced Paria's operations manager and incident commander Colin Piper, Michael accused blood on his hands. So called manager Do not dive into the pipeline again And I ask who is the manager noobody didn't want to say his name But I would say name because This month in paper. O in Fiwer Oh Yeah. right We still have time to see them guys Till out time. All this bullshit you talk in a press conference Chining to cover up your truck spundler G the js You are a murderer in my eyes. Y Early Monday morning, february twenty eighth, twenty twenty two crew from Peria Fuel Trading Company arrived at the site prepare for the liquid displacement operation Everyone else was ordered to leave when some of the volunteer divers and the LMCS personnel refused phones were confiscated. The area was then sealed off with tarps to block out any prying eyes After several delays Pumping began from birth five just before six PM Within minutes, objects started to emerge from the other end Scuba tanks, gloves, masks ins body. based on the watch, still on his wrist. Visal Kurban but his face was unrecognizable covered in oil digkeered by pressure Fys's remains were placed in a nondescript box and snuck out their way back entrance away from the families who had gathered nearby Two more bodies soon followed One was Kazim Ali juni. later identified by the jersey, he was wearing beneath his weetsuit The other was use of Henry. identified by his tattoos Yusuf's father said they were warned before the identification they were about to see was disturbing My son, I guess is going to be a closed casket. He said afterward, Win hours, videos of the three recovered divers in the Morgue. Again circulating online Meanwhile Rishi Nagasaw's body remained inside the pipeline still launged botom of the sea. The search continues for diver Rishin Nagasa. Para said consultation meetings were held throughout Tuesday night with other technical experts to review alternative methods. They have attempted to use remotely operated cameras to try and locate the body but have not been successful. The company also urged the public and interest groups to be thoughtful of presenting or sharing misinformation to the various media platforms It took another three days to retrieve Rishi His body had been effectively entombed behind a piece of equipment The recovery operation ultimately used a device known as a foam pig to force him loose Vanessa Kusi, Rishi's wife said she was holding their two year old son when the call finally came just after midnight It had been another sleepless night Another round of questions from the child, asking when his father would come home Right now, my family is broken, and there are no words to explain how we are feeling at this time, she told the Trinidad Guardian I don't think enough is being done And this whole situation just shows the level of corruption and Trinidad and T Baga Vanessa's comments captured only a fraction of the outrage spreading across the island deellayed response, the lack of preparedness, the negligence Someone needed to answer for these things Family members and supporters gathered outside Peria fuel trading compomany offices, demanding accountability Some stood outside the home of Colin Piper, holding picket signs in the immediate aftermath the only tangible assistance offered to some of these grieving families grocery store gift card At the same time, Christopher Budram was recovering in the hospital A nearly a week in intensive care, he was finally given back his phone Until then, he hadn't known the full extent of what had happened the man he had been trarouout with the men he called brothers hadn't made it out alive What do he learn the details? Chris was beside himself with anger and spoke out to the media Coming out that pipeline and seeing how they left us to die is worse than being in the pipeline, he said Para actually condemned my comrades to death They have the power to do this Why? who gave them the power to stop rescue efforts That decision, he said first degree murder LMCS issued a statement of its own pointoing its finger squarely at Pera We not only had the manpower and personnel to carry out their rescue, the company said But we provided Paria with the methodology to execute it We were not given a chance to save the lives of our employees and those who made those decisions be held accountable Pare youa pushed back callalling LMCS's statement fortunate. and Sing it felt compelled to correct what it described as inaccurate and unjust accusations acccording to the company All consulted experts, including LMCS read that they man to rescue would have been far too dangerous Further debate, Peria said would be premature and risk distracting from the tragedy and its impact on the families time and place for that urn it that into Bagel's prrime Minister, Keith Raleigh had already announced that an independent investigation would happen I want to give the assurance to the families that nothing will stand in the way of determining how This tragedy occurred. Until then work continued. cara flush the remaining artifacts and human tissue into the ocean and resumed maintenance operations less than twenty four hours after Rishi Nagazaw's body ped out of the pipe. As you are aware after the tragic accident There were a number of operations that finally resulted in the retrieving of the final body that of Mr. Rishinagasar L night, just after twelve thirty AM this morning And as Ed had promised On Monday, one of the things that the government had decided At the end of this, there would be an independent investigation carried out Well, I'm happy to see We have taken a decision this afternoon on the recommendation of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries I' panel Cittee be composed and that that committee wouldould do a report, do an investigation and report back to me as a regulator within a forty five day period Thursday, march third, twenty twenty two Trinidad inntobago's Minister of Energy. Stuart Young announced the formation of a five member panel to independently investigate the Pera diving tragedy The committee included an attorney, a suseas specialist, and engineer Rresentatives from BP and Shell The panel was tasked with examining the facts and circumstances that led to the incident as well as the decisions made in its aftermath, including the roles of Paria and LMCS Young said the findings would be ready within forty five days The announcement was met with immediate backlash. critics across the island including opposition leader and former Prime Minister Kamla Prersad Bassessor, described the appointments as nothing short of scandalous. Some nominees had clear and obvious conflicts of interest including one individual who had previously been a client of Young's when he practiced law and with BPN Shell at the table. Many questioned whether the industry could be trusted to scrutinize itself. Doubtful evenven if they did There was skepticism about what would happen afterward Trinidad's government had an extensive history of commissioning investigations only to withhold their results previous five years alone Multiple reports have been completed and never meaningfully acted upon This wasn't an investigation, critics argued cover up committee families of the victims and the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago deserved far more facing mounting public pressure Stewuart Young and Prime Minister Rleigh Force the backtack. What happened therea Dmatic language is rather unfortunate. telling barrage of what can only be Rbers tubing. winding for some of us still have hope that there will be some sense of decency by the opposition and disgusting behaviour from the leader of the opposition and a number of agents of the opposition time to oldlain some of this that you the population would understand what led to the Prime Minister, the honorable Prime Minister's decision that he annongs to us. a couple nights ago when he took a decision because of the attempts to make a circus out of a most serious investigation and he declared that He would ask the Cabinet to consider and approve a commommission of inquiry. into this tragic accident. A Commission of Inquiry would assume a similar fact finding mandate as the original investigation but with far sharper teeth unlike the earlier panel. A COE operates in public and carries the legal authority to compel testimony and demand documents tyypically chaired by an independent judge or senior legal figure In this case, that role ultimately fell to Jerome Lynch, a widely respected Kings's cououncil barrister with extensive experience in white collar crime of Fuel, welcome to the Commission expxpressing confidence that a full airing of the facts would clear the company of any allegations of wrongdoing Christopher Budrum and many of other victims' families The inquiry felt like a waste of time and resources better serve those most affected those who still hadn't seen the dime So much money for this Pappy show When I have no money, they even buy books for my children for school When I still wake up at two, three, four o'clock in the morning Hearing the voices of the men. calling me to help them Bodram told Trinidad Guardian That was another reason he dreaded the proceedings Chris knew he would have to testify and relive the worst day of his life in detail trauma that already reshaped his existence profoundly Chris couldn't work C't sleep You'd been diagnosed with amnesia and PTSD How can I teach my daughter to swim when I'm afraid to go in the water Chris wondered aloud I feel like it would have been better to die with them. been to live like this. We will, I'm afraid here on footage. the men who were alive in the pipe It is harrowing to listen to Anyone who feels that that might be too much should leave when it's being played I have to tell you There's no one who has listened to it who has not been The Commission of Inquiries' evidentiary hearings began on november twenty first, twenty twenty two at the International Waterfront Center in Port of Spain With a viewing of the footage captured by the GoPro, small cAaz was wearing when the five divers were sucked into the pipeline much of which you have already heard by this stage of the inquiry The investigative stage had already been completed The cause of the tragedy was determined to be a deelta P differential pressure event Unbeknownst to the LMCS divers pipeline had been cleared of oil in the weeks leading up to the job creating a dangerous pressure imbalance, preserved by the inflatable plug in the riser at birth six When the inflatable plug was removed That imbalance suddenly equalized, triggering a powerful influx of water into the pipeline and generating a violent suction effect that pulled the divers inside. proper protocols All of this could have easily but mitigate it. The cause of the tragedy was determined to be a failure of both Peria Fuel Trading Company and LMCS to recognize this hazard This conclusion was emphasized by the botched rescue operation that followed Four divers remaining in the pipe hadn't died before the attempt to insert the camera at birth five. Unsealing that second riser would have certainly sped up the process pressure in the pipe would have decreased dramatically. And the men would have drowned due to the displacement of liquid inside the pipe orr even worse they would have been subjected to instant and extreme decompression. What does that mean Well Grab yourself a soda can and shake it up real good until it feels like it's about to explode pull the tab quickly and watch it erupt because of the sudden pressure change It's like that, but instead of carbon dioxide, it's nitrogen And instead of soda, it's blood And instead of pouring out of an aluminum can The reaction would be contained within your organs and your body feel like being internally ripped to shreds by little gas bubbles, while the surrounding sea is being forced into your lungs By all accounts, there are very few worse ways to go. acccording to the timeline established by the autopsies It's likely some of the trapped divers were not spared from that experience. The conclusion of the postmortem report. Was that at the maximum Sty nine hours and fifteen minutes. A man was alive down there, while Paria was preventing people from going into the pipeline and rescuing them But the least, he was alive for fifteen hours. Of course, the men being alive in the pipe was not news to Christopher Bujrum. He was the first witness to testify at the inquiry The lone survivor wept as he recounted the horror from that day And the overwhelming guilt he still felt for failing to fulfill his promise of coming back for the others. Everything I tell you I resue is going on So he was making a ask me You know what Pedrum placed the blame solely on Peria for not saving his brothers. The LMCS supervisors on site that day repeated the same accusation in their testimonies Even Edric Hardgraves of the Coast Guard rejected the notion that his unit stood in the way. He acknowledged they lacked the training and equipment to carry out the rescue themselves never discourage anyone else from trying. I don't have the requisite qualifications to stop such a rescue. when representatives from Paria finally took the stand. They have no issue defending its actions or lack thereof. How would you raked The management of this incident or that How would you read management of the incident on the twenty fifth. or men to perish How would you read yourself Chairman, we do not have all eveningings Pick yourself for water I would read it as event very much. Four men died in an incident that you are to manage And you consider that excellent. Thank you very much That was Michael Way arear' technical manager He argued that sending additional divers into the pipeline would have been reckless The conditions inside were unknown. didnn't even understand what had triggered the event despite the loss of life way maintained at that per up had responded appropriately. It was an ethical consideration breathed General manager Mush Tag Mohamed Balancing act Technical lead Katherine Baluson Almost like the classic trolley dilemma Which lives would you choose to save Taking no action in Catherine's opinion was a form of action. Powera also took action. Telling anems, yes. not to die. Maro also took action to say listen puled up You you are you sure you want to dive in there because these are the risks to us? Someone lies could be lost huh? it's a It's a balancing act Right might be a different balancing gu. It was your father. will take break No, that's not Is there an objection to that One person who would object was Culin Piper Haro's operations manager. the man who ultimately decided to stop any rescue attempt from taking place He testified over two days beginning december fourteenth, twenty twenty two Piper acknowledged that that he made that call without consulting anyone else relying instead on what he described as his vast experience in the industry There were simply too many unknowns, he said But what he did know was that the men were trapped in a confined space The situation was inherently dangerous And those volunteering to go in had never attempted anything like it and were acting under intense emotional strain Those facts alone, Piper said. solidified his decision seending additional divers into the pipe would not have been prudent. So in an emergency response the worst thing you can do in an emergency respse are to art. dinctively emotionally That is the worst that is the That is the absolute way should not in an emergency Definitely in this case Don't respond like that in an emergency therefore I had no choice but to say need to assist We need to understand what is going on. So I took that decision difficult as that decision was won't leave for one minute, that was a simple decision. That was that was an extremely difficult decision. But at that point, it was the decision that had to be taken Col and Piper still believed it was the right call although it tormented them I had four men in that pipe, he said. add husbands in that pipe, add fathers in that pipe, add sons in that pipe Whose father should I have allowed and sanctioned to go down in that pipe Whse suon should I have allowed to go down in that pipe whose husband Should I have sction to go down in that pipe and perish Yes Why would he be so reckless with other people's lives? If you believe in this room was us thing. becausecause we had for men in that pipe you believe I just sat there and decided I'm just not sending a man in a pipe you simply do not understand. what we went through that night. att the close of the commission Gilbert Peterson, Councselil for Paria. argued that the company bore no legal duty to save the four men. and that its actions were entirely reasonable Every expert they consulted had agreed, he said Pose a hypothetical in a different world Paria had authorized the rescue, and those men had died. We would still be here, Peterson argued asking a different question Why did Paria allow such a dangerous rescue to take place in the face of so many unknowns There was no winning in this situation, he alluded. considering the scenario of a successful rescue. It is as well to remember how this Commission of inquiry came about equivocently as a result of public pressure desire for you, the public have a real attempt at truth findind out what happened why it happens Why was so little done to rescue? and how we can stop this ever happening again Let's be clear This was no act of God or mere unlucky accents After sifting through tens of thousands of documents, video and audio recordings, transcripts and correspondence On top of six months of public hearings and multiple delays The Commission of Inquiry convened for the last time O november twenty ninth, twenty twenty three Chairman Jerome Lynch announced the commission's three hundred and eighty page report would be delivered to President Christine Kangaloo the following day. twenty one months after the incident Along with it, it would include a recommendation that the report be made public After all, it was the public who had demanded the inquiry. Public paid for Lynch said he was satisfied commission had done what it was created to do establish the facts, scrutinize the decisions, and determine responsibility. However, one aspect of the process had left a bitter taste in his mouth. One feature of this inquiry that has become clear beyond padventure to anyone who has been watching the inquiry unfold is that throughout the process No stake anyone conceded a single error? single mishap, or a single recognition of a failedge, even with the benefit of hindsight We understand that there is a desire not to accept liability, less that that should incur responsibility of financial responsibility in some civil suit at some later stage. These men, as I said already, did not die by accident. what they're left with and their families are left the potential parties perhaps challenging the very findings of this inquiry Be they start fighting with each other, each insisting that they got nothing wrong Additionally, Lynch criticized the way the families were treated in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy He described Perry's failure to keep them informed and the lack of provisions such as basic sheltered toilets, food and water as insensitive and uncivilized nothing Parrier's documentation or LMCS's HSE manual or anything else Deals communication by the employer or contractor with the victims' families in an emergency situation They should Implementing formal protocols for engaging with the families of the victims was one of fifty two recommendations in the commission's final report It also called for Trinidad and Tobago to update its diving regulations that hadn't been revised since nineteen ninety seven Petrogonss collapse Union influence had waned and longstanding safety frameworks had eroded. Fewer standardized rules when aggressive cost cutting took their place. intensifying competition in an already dangerous industry The result was predictable lower paid less qualified workers and more accidents most of which were quietly buried In fact, Christopher Bodrum Rishi Nagasaol had narrowly escaped death just weeks before the pipeline incident when an explosion erupted near birth, too One of their colleagues lost a leg Yet no statements were taken broader alarm was raised business as usual Something had to change. seeking to compel that change The commission recommended that Trinidad and Tobago's director of public prorosecutions consider charging Pera. Mansslaughter The odds of that happening were slim And even if such a case did move forward and succeed The most likely outcome would be a financial penalty area is state owned guess would ultimately puting the bill And as Chairman Lynch had mentioned Taxpayers had already funded the inquiry itself whichich ended up costing roughly twenty one million dollars More than half of which was spent on legal fees Vulgar and obscene. was how Vanessa Cusy described it People were getting rich off of their suffering Wow, the families, many of whom had lost their primary breadwinners We're left organizing charity barbecues and relying on neighbors to get by. Workers' compensation was stalled pending insurance Insurance was stalled pending liability Civil suits have been effectively frozen until the Commission of Inquiry concluded families needed help Yesterday especially Christopher Budram. whose medical bills were rapidly mounting That help never came until recognising the difficulty trauma tragic circumstances of these divers and we are going to make exracial payments of one million dollars each of the families of the deceased divers and Mr. Budram. On april fourth, twenty twenty five former Eergy mininister Stuart Young but assumed the role of Prime Minister after Keith Rleigh's resignation announced that the government of Trinidad and Tobago provide payments of one million dollars to the families of each diver who died in the pipeline as well as Christopher Budram Jng described the payments as excrashia Meaning they carried no admission of liability That would not prevent the families from pursuing further damages in court Ting. raised immediate suspicion general election was just weeks away and Junng was seeking to keep his party in power. Opposition leader Kamlar Persad Bassesser called the move. the lowest election stunt Stuart Young has ever pulled It reeks of desperation, she said Voters ultimately agreed. handing a majority of seats to Bersad Bassessar's partarty and reinstating her as P prime Minister for those most affected by the Paria tragedy promised compensation Hven't materialized That would finally change in january twenty twenty six, just weeks before the four year anniversary of the incident Prime Mister Pad Besser throughw on the payments, which she described as long overdue Christopher Buchrum, the relief was immediate He described receiving the funds as a breath of fresh air somethingomething that he would know more about than anybody Christopher Budrum and the other families continue to pursue legal action against Peria And they're still searching for some semblance of justice It's been four years, Boodram told the Guardian And nobody lost their job Nobody was jailed Trinidad's occupational safety and health authority and agency did lay charges against Paria and several executives for failing to ensure the safety of their employees and contractors, but those charges amounted to regulatory violations of workplace safety Basically a slap on the wrist. even then Every defendant has pleaded not guilty stillill convinced that no mistakes were made. 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