Manzanilla bathroom washes out to sea

A temporary bathroom in Manzanilla came crumbling down and was washed out to sea when a blocked waterway burst its banks after an hour of heavy rainfall on Trinidad’s east coast yesterday.

Newsday spoke to chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation Terry Rondon, who confirmed the incident and said despite earlier reports that a beach house was destroyed, it was instead a small changing facility on the beach. He said staff from the Disaster Management Unit of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and the Disaster Response Unit of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation were working to remove debris from a blocked river when the collapse occurred.

“The river was clogged by several feet of debris and we were in the process of removing it with bulldozers when the facility, which was nearby, collapsed. Some of the material was washed out with the waves and persons exaggerated it and reported that a house was destroyed instead.”

Newsday understands that no one was inside the bathroom when it collapsed.

Rondon said with rain expected over the night into today, he and other emergency officials were at the ready to help.