Postby javishm » June 24th, 2013, 9:09 am
Teen dies in accident at Las Cuevas
The sudden death of 14-year-old Lilly Blades has left her family and friends in a state of shock and disbelief. They are calling for swift justice in the death of their relative. The driver of the boat, a 21-year-old fisherman from Las Cuevas, has since been arrested and is in custody at the Maracas Bay Police Station.
Around 5.30 p.m on Saturday afternoon a fishing pirogue was proceeding in a northerly direction, parallel to the bay at the same time Blades, of Caven Crescent, Tacarigua, was swimming out to meet the rest of her group. Blades, a Third Form pupil at the El Dorado West Secondary School, was in the water, about 25 feet from the shoreline, when the pirogue came into contact with her, police said. She suffered grievious injuries.
Veteran lifeguard and instructor Curtis Hernandez had just finished cleaning the ambulance which transported Blades when the Express approached him yesterday. Hernandez, a lifeguard of 21 years, was on ambulance duty when the accident occurred. The driver of the boat which collided with Blades turned around picked Blades out of the water and brought her to shore.
“It was a terrible accident, the worst boating accident I’ve ever seen. We’ve never had any incident like that occur on this beach before,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez and the lifeguards rushed into action, laid Blades on a stretcher and rushed off in the ambulance. As the ambulance navigated the twists and turns of the North Coast Road, he administered oxygen to the young girl. She was breathing, said Hernandez but her eyes were dilated and there was no movement.
Blades was transferred to an EHS ambulance at the “pillars” (the intersection from the North Coast Road into Santa Cruz or Maraval).
“It was tough and some lifeguards are a bit traumatised, some are wondering if they could have done things differently, but in that situation you have to focus your energies on dealing with the case at hand and do all you can do to deal with the wounds,” Hernandez said.
Blades’ brother Elaza told reporters his sister was an adventurous teenager and a model pupil at her school. The boat, he said, was in the water at a fast speed and he also questioned why the driver of the pirogue operated the vessel in water where bathers frequent.
Her other brother Jerome said the rest of his family and the girl’s friends are having a difficult time dealing with their loss. “It is a shock. Mummy and Daddy in a mess, all of us, because we wasn’t expecting this,” he said.
Sometime around 2 a.m. yesterday, officers of the North Eastern Division Task Force (NEDTF) went to a house at the fishing village where the man was found to be hiding out.
Officers said he told them he did not see Blades in the water and after realising that he had collided with her, started to panic. After bringing her to shore he decided to flee the scene, said police.
The pirogue was later found hidden away in the Las Cuevas fishing village. The owner of the boat was also detained for questioning and later released said investigators.
The Tourism Ministry, in a press release yesterday, said upon learning of the incident Minister of Tourism Stephen Cadiz met with and expressed his condolences to the Blades family.
It stated that Cadiz also visited the scene of the incident and met with lifeguards after which he requested a full report of the incident from the Life Guard Service.
“Immediate steps will be taken to further protect persons swimming at the beaches patrolled by the Ministry of Tourism Lifeguard Service. Minister Cadiz has mandated the Tourism Development Company (TDC) to install marker buoys along beaches and to create ‘No Entry Zones’ for motorised craft where possible... The Ministry of Tourism deeply regrets the horrific incident at Las Cuevas and extends our sincerest condolences to the Blades family,” the release stated.
When the Express visited the beach, pirogues packed with people were seen coming well into the bay, mere metres away from bathers.
Hernandez said ‘marker buoys placed 100-200 metres from the shoreline and 25 -50 metres apart can act as a barrier for boatmen and a safeguard to bathers. Investigations are continuing
not in tnt. else breathalyzers would be right outside scotland bay and chaguaramas.
