Diver's widow welcomes 'long overdue' police probe

The widow of one of the four men who died in the Paria diving tragedy in 2022, welcomed news of a police investigation to see if enough evidence exists to charge anyone or any entity with manslaughter by gross negligence.

Newsday spoke with Vanessa Kussie, wife of Rishi Nagassar, on July 30, after a statement from Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard.

The DPP said he had asked for a police investigation into the drownings to see if enough evidence exists to prefer charges of manslaughter through gross negligence. He made this move after studying the report of a Commission of Enquiry which examined the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

Kussie said she would co-operate with a police probe, even as she told Newsday of how her husband's death affects every day of her life and the life of their young son.

"If the police wish to interview any of the families, we will be most willing to co-operate, because all of the families who were there knew what was going on behind those gates. Criminal charges are supposed to be laid against those officials," Kussie said.

She recalled the Coast Guard being called in to stop unofficial efforts to rescue the four divers after they became trapped in an undersea oil pipeline.

"They (Coast Guard officers) had guns pointed at divers who came and were there willing to try and rescue our husbands or as they (the divers) called them, their brothers. Our husbands were men who the divers worked with on a daily basis, whether it's Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

"These were men who worked together, so they would not let their own brothers go down in vain and dead just so. There could have been a rescue."

Kussie said she remembered the events as if it only happened yesterday.

"We were there screaming and bawling, crying out for our husbands to get out of the pipeline, while we know they were pounding for their lives, to get out of that pipeline.

"Yes, they should be looking at it as a criminal investigation...manslaughter, they should all be behind bars!"

Kussie said the distraught families saw food and drinks being driven into the compound for Paria officials during the ordeal, while they were ignored and not given even a flash light.

Asked if she has the fortitude for another ordeal, of reliving the horrors as would be the case if she was interviewed as part of the police's investigation. "It is heartbreaking. We as families, we are single parents now and it is very hard.

"Government said to band we bellies, but we must do more than band we bellies. We have to watch at things we might have got our children and now have to tell them, 'no, you can't get that.' I know if my son's father was still alive, he would have tried his best to look after us."

Recalling the fateful day – February 25, 2022 – she said Nagassar told her he would work a short time and be home soon. As the hours passed by, she said, her fear grew especially as she got no call from Paria that something had gone wrong.

Kussie said her husband was a great provider to the family and she is now surviving by chasing bargain items weekly.

"I can't go to the grocery or market and say, 'I am Rishi Nagassar's wife,' and expect people will feel sorry for me. No. You have to suck in your belly and buy only what is necessary."

"My son is going to start school just now. They never even called to say if we wanted school books or anything. And it's not only me, other families are hurting too. They have never called us."

Kussie lamented Paria's failure to compensate the families.

"I feel as if they want us to forget what happened."

"A whole commission of inquiry was held...millions of dollars spent on this inquiry but not one red cent for the wives or children, not even a Massy card. (It's) very, very sad," she cried.

Kussie said that even two years later, going to an empty bed at nights is a torment for her. Her son too, she added, is struggling to cope.

She said sometimes when he is playing, his son would suddenly stop, look at her and say, "mammy, where daddy. I missing daddy."

Kussie said she wanted to meet with DPP Gaspard but has been unable to. However, she is happy at his intervention and calls to the police to initiate an investigation.

"It took too long to do it. It is overbearing. It is making you drain yourself and your body," she said.

Efforts to reach the relatives of the other drowned divers for their views on the police investigation, proved futile.