The ‘Jack Iron’ tragedy of 1969 left 19 dead, two blind and a community devastated

The news from St Lucia last week that four people had died from suspected ingestion of a poisonous substance resembling an alcoholic beverage, evoked among older Vincentians, memories of a similar tragedy of much larger proportions.

Known as the ‘Jack Iron’ tragedy, 19 Vincentians died, two were blinded and as many as 600 others fell ill as a result of poisoning through drinking the aviation fuel between November 22 and 23, 1969.

The aviation fuel had been stored in drums aboard the 90 tonne Schooner Ruth 114, which was en route to Martinique from Trinidad. According to an account in ‘Contesting moralities; Science, Identity, Conflict’ by Nannekke Redclift and published by UCL Press, on Wednesday, November 19,1969, the schooner ran into heavy weather and, having suffered damage to the sails and rudder, sprang a leak.

Unable to stem the flow of water, the crew abandoned ship and made for the beach at Colonarie on the Windward coast of St Vincent, at approximately 3 a.m. on Thursday, November 20.

“After some nine hours, the crew arrived in Colonarie and informed the local police. Despite a search by two ships from Kingstown the vessel was not sighted and finally, having drifted North for several hours, finally ran aground at Big Level, a beach immediately adjacent to the east of the village of Sandy Bay. A small group of men from the village managed to board the boat and began a salvage operation to remove the cargo and any items of value. This consisted of a small quantity of rum in wooden casks as well as the main cargo of 100 drums of methanol and 150 drums of aviation fuel. On finding the rum the men opened the casks and began to drink it. They then turned their attention to the other drums and sampled that too. One informant told how, having witnessed what was happening, he warned the men about drinking the fuel but was told that he was just a boy and didn’t understand drink.

“This was ‘Jack Iron’ they claimed, a strong rum made in the Grenadines. The schooner was by then beginning to break up and the drums were floated and dragged ashore. By this time a large group of people had assembled and quickly began to distribute the liquid amongst themselves. News of the wreck had spread rapidly and it was believed to be a piece of good fortune for the inhabitants of the area. As news of the unexpected windfall spread people began to arrive not only from Sandy Bay but the nearby village of Owia. That weekend the community could have a party thanks to the boon they had received. Within 24 hours the situation changed as the lethal concoction’s devastating effects became apparent. People began collapsing from poisoning,” Redclift said in her book.

A frantic operation began with those unaffected trying to administer sugar and water to the sufferers. This prompt action may have saved many lives, but the toll was still heavy.

Among the 19 who died were three children between the ages of 11 and 12, The Vincentian newspaper of November 29, 1969 reported.

The bodies of the victims of the tragedy were laid out in the small square outside of the post office in Sandy Bay, whilst the survivors were taken to hospitals, in Kingstown, Georgetown and Chateaubelair.

“The situation had been made worse by the absence of both telephones and electricity in the north of the island. Getting the sick to hospital, once the alarm has been raised, was made more difficult by the tortuous nature of the coastal road to Georgetown some eight miles away. Fortunately the Rabacca Dry River was not in flood and vehicles were able to cross the shallow ford in relative safety…,” Redclift said.

According to The Vincentian Newspaper, Kingstown was up in uproar on Monday, November 24, as ambulances arrived with living victims for the hospital and news of dead bodies in the villages.

The Premier, Robert M Cato, the Minister of Health and the Acting Senior Medical Officer, along with a team of doctors and nurses from Kingstown visited the area that same day.

The newspaper also listed the names, addresses and ages of the dead and the names of those warded at the General Hospital in Kingstown. The dead ranged in age from 11 to 60 years old and were from the villages of Orange Hill, Owia, Sandy Bay and Rose Bank.

The Vincentian said there were eight crew members on board the wrecked schooner, with the captain being Kenneth Richardson of Anguilla. According to the newspaper, the captain said that he was shocked to hear that persons had drunk the contents of the drums, since they were plainly marked in large red letters “DANGER”.