Sailor shot dead in suspected accident

A sailor is dead after he was reportedly shot by accident when a colleague was cleaning his Galil rifle on the deck of a coast guard vessel on Tuesday afternoon.

Newsday understands ordinary seaman Gyasi Richardson was on the deck of the coast guard vessel which was on patrol along the Gulf of Paria when a colleague accidentally shot a round hitting Richardson in the head.

The crew took the vessel back to Chaguaramas and reported the incident to their headquarters.

On reaching the shore an ambulance took Richardson to the St James Infirmary where he was declared dead on arrival.

Investigations are continuing.