State to pay for funerals of victims

Those persons who died as a result of the rains and flooding last week will be buried at the expense of the state.{{more}}

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced on Monday that he had instructed Cabinet Secretary Kattian Barnwell to make provisions to have the funeral expenses taken care of by the government.

“I don’t want the problem of the pain and suffering of the death to be added to that, the cost of the funeral,” Gonsalves explained.

“So, we ease that burden, and I say to them, prayer helps. God does not give us more than we can bear.”

Five members in one Rose Bank family: Walson Nanton, 71; his wife Herna Nanton, 70; their daughter Hazell Baptiste, 51; and grandsons Bernard Nanton, 24 and Yannick Bartholomew, 18, perished when the house they were in, collapsed from the weight of another house that was displaced by a landslide.

The bodies of 18-year-old Keslia James and her two-year-old niece Shalani Headley were discovered on December 25 and 29 respectively, after they were washed away by the raging Vermont river on Christmas Eve night.

34-year-old Vermont resident Desmond Wilson was also a victim of the swollen Vermont river; his body was found on Christmas Day, and Raymond Gonsalves, 62 of Manning Village, Byrea, was killed when his home was damaged by a landslide.

Funeral dates have not yet been announced.

Three persons are yet to be accounted for` since the flooding took place. They are 27-year-old Josell Small of Lowmans Hill, Shiela Edwards, 36, of Buccament, and Inka Jack, 12, also of Buccament.

One individual who was thought to be missing has been located.