Port of Spain homeless man's body found in Gulf of Paria

The body of a man believed to have been homeless was found floating in the Gulf of Paria on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said the captain of a boat saw the body of a man near his vessel near the NP Jetty at around 2.15 pm.

The man called the Coast Guard, who took the body to the Sea Lots fishing jetty, where a district medical officer declared the man dead.

Police from the Port of Spain Division and crime scene investigators interviewed several people at the jetty, who said they recognised the man as homeless and said he lived in the East Dry River.

They did not know his name.

The man was of African descent, five foot eight inches tall and had an unkempt beard.

He was found wearing a gold T-shirt, green short pants and sneakers.

Police said this was not the first time a homeless person from Port of Spain had drowned in floodwater, as a woman who also lived in the East Dry River drowned when she was washed away by floods in September 2019.

Her body was found at the Caroni River two days later.

Police said they visited the drain two weeks ago and warned the homeless to avoid sleeping there as flooding may recur.