Latest news with #divingdisaster
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE PIPELINE: 'It took the people's breath away' - Top barrister remembers shocking moment oil company claimed failed efforts to rescue men trapped for days inside underwater pipe were 'excellent'
On the latest episode of the Daily Mail's Pipeline podcast, reporter Isabelle Stanley interviews witnesses, diving experts, and lawyers involved in the official enquiry into the Caribbean diving disaster. In February 2022, five divers were sucked into a 30-inch pipe they were repairing off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago. Despite one of the divers, Christopher Boodram, escaping after an unimaginable three-hour ordeal, rescue attempts for the remaining four were repeatedly blocked, leaving them to die slowly in what became a national scandal. The pipe was managed by Paria, one arm of Trinidad's state-owned oil company. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Trinidad's then-Energy Minister Stuart Young launched an official enquiry, led by one of the UK's top international criminal barristers, Jerome Lynch KC. Speaking to the podcast, Lynch remembered his shock when Michael Wei, Paria's Technical Maintenance Manager who acted as Logistics Chief during the incident, sensationally claimed efforts to rescue the men were 'excellent'. Previous episodes heard how the oil company blocked a team of experienced volunteer divers, who were willing to risk their lives to save the men, from entering the pipe. The Enquiry established that Paria's Incident Commander, Collin Piper, obsessed about getting a camera into the pipe to assess the conditions inside and – despite claiming to take advice from expert divers on site – did not speak to one waiting professional until after 9.30pm, while another dive company waited for eight hours with no one from Paria speaking to them at all. Autopsies would later reveal that one of the four men trapped inside the pipe may have been alive for up to 39 hours. 'It took people's breath away', Lynch said on Wei's testimony. 'It was just an unbelievable moment. Somebody responsible for trying to rescue these men had completely failed to understand what they had achieved was essentially nothing. 'That moment told you everything you needed to know about the attitude the management of Paria had taken.' Now that proceedings have concluded, Stanley asked Lynch where he believes fault lies for the tragedy, three years after he oversaw the enquiry. 'It was the failure of a whole series of people', the barrister said. 'I do have a certain sympathy with an approach in which the company might have taken time to justify risking anybody going into that pipe when they didn't even know for a 100 percent that they were in there and that they were alive. 'But once Christopher came out of that pipe, two and a half hours or so later, they knew for sure that they were in the pipe and they knew for sure that they were alive.' 'I think Paria didn't expect anything like this to happen. They were completely paralysed and, in one sense, it was easier to do nothing than to risk anybody else's life. 'But there were those who were prepared to risk their lives to rescue them. I just don't get it – why wouldn't you have facilitated a way in which something could be done? 'To me, it is unforgivable that no real attempt was made to rescue those men.' Almost a year after the enquiry finished, Lynch produced a 380 page report into the disaster. He found that Paria had effectively prevented efforts to rescue the trapped divers, concluding that their action on that day could be characterised as gross negligence. Lynch urged Trinidad's Director of Public Prosecutions to consider charging Paria with corporate manslaughter.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE PIPELINE: Hear all the revelations from The Daily Mail's groundbreaking podcast investigating the 2022 Caribbean diving disaster
Every Thursday, Mail reporter Isabelle Stanley will bring you all the revelations from her groundbreaking investigation into the Caribbean diving disaster - on brand new podcast series, Pipeline. In February 2022, Kazim Ali Jr, Yusuf Henry, Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar, and Christopher Boodram were sent to fix an underwater oil pipeline just off the coast of Trinidad. Just as they were about to finish, they were violently sucked into the 30-inch pipe they were repairing and dragged hundreds of feet beneath the sea. The men were professional divers, working for a contractor commissioned by Paria Fuel Trading Company, one arm of Trinidad's state-owned oil company. One man, Christopher Boodram, managed to drag himself out over the course of three agonizing hours, but attempts to rescue the other four were repeatedly blocked. They were left to die. Trapped deep underwater, with tiny pockets of air, their autopsies revealed they didn't die quickly – one of the men may have been alive in those unimaginable conditions for up to 39 hours. Travelling to Trinidad for a first-of-its-kind investigation into the disaster, this explosive real-time podcast will uncover a story of corporate negligence, betrayal, and greed. The six-part series explores allegations that rescue efforts were actively obstructed, examines how safety failures were ignored, and unearths close connections between Trinidad's political elite and oil executives. It will also feature an exclusive interview with the disaster's only survivor, Christopher Boodram, along with GoPro audio from inside the pipe, capturing the men's final, harrowing hours. Pipeline, a Daily Mail podcast, is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all major podcast platforms now.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE PIPELINE: My son spent his last moments gasping for air in an underwater oil pipe - this is my story
The Mail have launched a new six-part investigative podcast series into the 2022 Caribbean diving disaster. This real-time investigation sees reporter Isabelle Stanley travel to Trinidad and Tobago to interview the victims' families and the tragedy's sole survivor. Travelling to the nation for a first-of-its-kind investigation into the disaster, this explosive podcast will uncover a story of corporate negligence, betrayal, and greed. Listen here The Tragedy In February 2022, five men were sent to repair a leaking section of underwater pipe just off the coast of Trinidad. What should have been a routine job for the experienced divers turned deadly when something went terribly wrong and, in less than a second, they were sucked inside the 30-inch pipe they were repairing. Despite being dragged hundreds of feet through the pipe beneath the sea, the men survived the initial impact. They were scattered throughout the pipe, but managed to group together, breathing in tiny pockets of air that had been sucked in with them. One of the men, Christopher Boodram, managed to drag himself out over the course of three agonising hours, but attempts to rescue the other four were repeatedly blocked. They were left to die. And they didn't die quickly. Autopsies later revealed that one of the divers, Kazim Ali Jr, may have been alive for as long as 39 hours inside the pipe The tragedy sparked a national scandal in Trinidad, and billboards demanding justice still line street corners to this day. A Father's Pain In the first episode of Pipeline, Stanley spoke to the father of one of the divers, Kazim Ali Sr, who has spent the three years since the tragedy hunting for answers. Kazim Ali Sr is in a uniquely terrible position. He not only lost his son in the tragedy -but he also owned the business that all the divers worked for, LMCS. LMCS had been hired by Paria, the state-owned oil company, to repair the pipe. 'I think about it 25 hours a day', the grieving father told podcast host Stanley. 'It's never out of my mind. Learning he'd been alive for 39 hours, that was the killer.' The first two episodes of Pipeline, explaining the tragedy, featuring exclusive interviews with the families of the victims and the sole survivor of the disaster, Christopher Boodram, are available now. PIPELINE The six-part podcast series will explore allegations that efforts to rescue the other four men were actively obstructed, and will unearth close connections between Trinidad's political elite and oil executives. Travelling to the nation for a first-of-its-kind investigation into the disaster, this explosive podcast will uncover a story of corporate negligence, betrayal, and greed.
