SEVEN years after a gruesome boat accident claimed the life of 10 civilians in the Mazaruni River, two boat captains will, on Tuesday, stand trial before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall and a jury at the Essequibo High Court.

Devon Thomas, called “Beast” and Cabesh Persaud, called “Dube” have pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of manslaughter which alleged that, on January 22, 2013, in the county of Essequibo, they unlawfully killed Deon Moses, Ulrick Grimes, Christopher Ramnarine, Zahir Baksh; Brazilian national Francisco Olivera Alves, Kevon Ambrose, Keanu Amsterdam and his brother, Ricky Bobb; Jermanie Calisto, and Jewan Seeram.

A total of 20 witnesses are expected to testify during the trial.
According to reports both accused are boat captains. On the day in question, Thomas was the captain of the vessel called ‘Matheran’ which had 13 persons aboard while Persaud was the sailor of the vessel called ‘Dube’ which had six passengers. The vessels which were traversing in full throttle collided at Crab Falls in the Mazaruni River. Ten persons died as a result of the collision.