SVG to host vigil, memorial ceremony to honour Rock Gutter seven

Sunday, January 12, 2025 will make the the 10th anniversary of the Rock Gutter tragedy in Fancy, which claimed the lives of seven secondary school students from the village.

The anniversary this year, will be marked by a vigil and a memorial ceremony at the Fancy Government School. Speaking on NBC radio on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves expressed continued sadness over the loss of the children who were students of the North Union Secondary School, the Georgetown Secondary School, and the St Vincent Grammar School. Prior to the memorial ceremony, the vigil will be held at Rock Gutter tomorrow, Saturday January 11th, 2025. The prime minister said the vigil this will be from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m at the site where the victims lost their lives.

The following day, Sunday, January 12, is the exact date of the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

As such, a memorial event will be held at the Fancy Government School to remember the victims.

On January 12, 2015, the students were in a mini van, travelling from Fancy to different secondary schools southward.

On reaching the area known as Rock Gutter, located between Fancy and Owia, the vehicle, with 21 passengers on board,18 of whom were students, ran off the road and plunged into the sea. The bodies of five students- Racquel Ashton, Jamall and Jamarlie Edwards, Glenroy Michael, and Anique Alexander were recovered at the site with help from villagers and the SVG Coast Guard.

The bodies of Simonique Ballantyne and Chanstacia Stay have never been been found. The five students were buried in a joint funeral in Fancy on January 25, 2015. Two of those who were directly touched by the tragedy have since died, they are Metheline Alexander, mother of the late Anique Alexander, a former student of the North Union Secondary School, and Pastor Ehud Myers, operator and conductor of the school bus. On the ninth anniversary of the Rock Gutter tragedy, the prime minister shared that he had received a plaque from the parents with the names of their children inscribed on it which he placed in his office on the wall facing the desk where he sits.