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By Kenton X. Chance
Caribbean Correspondent
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, November 9, 2016 (CMC) – Rescue teams have recovered the body of a pre-teenager, Phillip Compton, from the northern Grenadine island of Bequia, today, after he was swept away by flood waters, reportedly while trying to clear a drain in Paget Farm on the south of the island.
Police confirmed the death and said that the Coast Guard had joined in the search for a six-year-old boy, who along with his elder brother, had been swept away by a river in Campden Park as a result of the heavy rains that the Meteorological Office said had been caused by a trough system affecting the island, since Tuesday.
Friends and relatives wait on the sea shore as the search continues at sea. (CMC photo).
Police have given the name of the missing boy as Jayquan May and said that his 10-year-old brother, Jafon, had been found at sea, nearly half a mile from the spot where he had been swept away.
He has been taken to hospital suffering with a broken right foot and an injury to the head.
The boys’ mother, whose name was not disclosed, fainted on the beach and had to be rushed to hospital.
Julius Diamond, who helped in the recovery of Jafon, said “He told me while he and his brother were there at the side of the river, he [saw] his brother gone (being swept away) so he tried to help his brother. And he told me that his brother died.”
Diamond said he met Jafon on the seashore and “I put him on my back and carried him to meet his grandparents”.
The surface trough system has dumped nearly five inches of rain on St. Vincent and the Grenadines during the past 24 hours, resulting in floods and landslides across the island.
Non-essential public servants were told to stay at home, while many privately-owned businesses remained closed on Wednesday.
The Meteorological Office said the trough system will continue to affect the country.
“As a result, generally cloudy skies, light to moderate showers and scattered thunderstorms will continue to affect the islands,” forecasters said, adding that analysis suggests that these conditions will continue to affect the country for most of Wednesday,” it noted.
