Simulation shows how divers suffered one of the worst deaths possible during Caribbean disaster
The Paria pipeline disaster saw four divers tragically lose their lives after carrying out some maintenance work in the Caribbean.
The four divers - Kazim Ali Jr, Yusuf Henry, Fyzal Kurban and Rishi Nagassar - died at work after being sucked into an oil pipeline on 25 February 2022, off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago.
Fifth diver Christopher Boodram was the only one to survive the freak accident.
The divers were called to work in a hyperbaric chamber (or pressurised chamber) with water being pumped out of it so they could change some nuts and fix a leak.
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YouTube channel FatalBreakdown, who provide visual explanation videos of tragic incidents, has since showed what they believe to have happened on that fatal day in 2022.
Watch below:
The video provides animated visuals on how the five divers were working in hyperbaric chamber to fix a water leak.
The YouTuber explains: "The inflatable plug that they were removing was supposed to be separating 12 barrels of oil from the air and ocean water around it.
"In that case, it would have been a matter of routine to remove the plug and proceed with their work plan.
"The air pressure in the habitat would have been pressing down on a heavy column of oil.
"The oil would have been settled level between the two pipe openings at birth five and six. Nothing out of the ordinary."
However, when they removed an inflated plug using a lever, it created a pressure differential.
This caused all five divers to get sucked into the 30-inch-diameter pipeline in Pointe-a-Pierre harbour.
Only Boodram survived the accident by swimming through oil water to a bend in the pipeline, eventually being pulled out by rescuers after being trapped in there for three hours.
The pipeline’s owner, the Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited, has since been accused of gross negligence and corporate manslaughter, according to a report by the Commission of Enquiry (CoE).
The report accused Paria of poor operating procedures and having no rescue team being sent out to the divers.
Paria’s terminal operations manager, Collin Piper, said the decision to not provide a rescue team was made to prevent more lives from being lost.
CoE said that the tragedy was caused by the ‘methodology adopted by both Paria and LMCS in removing the content from the pipeline,’ which created a ‘Latent Differential Pressure’ – a vacuum in the pipeline that sucked in the workers.
During his testimony, Boodram said: “Mind you all, in there was like an unbelievable nightmare. Your eyes are burning. Every time you try to open your eyes, it burns."
Litigation over the incident is still ongoing.
LADbible has contacted the Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited for a comment.
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Anish Vij