Trinidad fuel company managers charged over death of four divers

Managers of a state-owned fuel trading company in Trinidad & Tobago are facing 15 charges linked to the 2022 deaths of four divers who became trapped in a pipeline while repairing it.

Two top managers of Paria Fuel Trading Company, a subsidiary of Trinidad Petroleum Holdings, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to accusations that they violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act, according to local media reports.

Also charged was the director of Land and Marine Contracting Services Limited, a company contracted by Paria to repair the pipeline. Local newspapers reported that the director’s son died in the incident.

The charges filed include failure to properly assess risks, and failure to prepare and revise an emergency plan.

The divers died after being sucked into a large pipeline they were repairing.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for mid-January 2025.

Earlier this year, a government inquiry recommended that prosecutors file corporate manslaughter charges against the company, saying it made “little or no attempt to rescue” the divers.

A fifth diver survived and recounted the ordeal to investigators.

The deaths angered many on the twin-island nation in the eastern Caribbean, with families of the victims demanding proper compensation as they await the outcome of a lawsuit alleging negligence.

AP