In the Maldives all crew members of the tuna boat, which allegedly refused to help Thinadhoo ferry disaster victims, are to be brought to Male for investigations, police said Tuesday.
The 17-crew members that includes the skipper of tuna boat Miyaren dhoni from Dhaandhoo island are now on their way to Male in order to undergo a full investigation, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Maj. Ibrahim Latheef said.
A police team is also in Thinadhoo investigating the incident in which the Enama boat capsized last Wednesday in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll near Dhevvadhoo island with 126 passengers, who were returning to Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll after watching a football match in Villingili island in Gaafu Alifu atoll. The capsizing resulted in the death of 21 people, mostly women and children, and rendering two missing.
Latheef said that in Male the crew will be under police custody and that their investigations will be conducted in Male.
Part of the investigations was already conducted in Dhaandhoo island. From their findings so far, police said they found that the Miyaren boat had visited the scene of the disaster but refused to help any survivors.
Police has already placed the skipper of the Miyaren boat under arrest. He does not have a captain’s license, police said.
Miyaren boat allegedly refused to help the victims, claiming that they had 12 tons of fish in storage and was on its way to Kooddoo to sell their catch.
A fisherman from Dhaandhoo on Tuesday told Haveeru over telephone that the Miyaren belonged to a former Island Chief of Dhaandhoo. He said that the Miyaren did not have 12 tons of fish in storage when it came near to the capsized Enama, but only had six tons of tuna in storage at that time. He said that this would fetch around Rf18,000 (about US$1,400). He added that the Miyaren boat sold its catch to Kooddoo on Wednesday night itself.
The fisherman also said that recently the Miyaren boat, which was anchored at the Dhaandhoo harbor, had its bow sunk. However, he said that he cannot confirm whether this was the result of a loose plug, or a deliberate damage to the Miyaren boat.
When the Miyaren boat allegedly refused to help Enama victims, while at the scene of the disaster, differences erupted among the Miyaren’s crew members themselves, a crew told Haveeru.
Sources from Dhaandhoo said that the island’s residents were angry with the boat’s crew for their refusal to help the Enama victims.
When the Miyaren came to the scene of the Enama capsizing, there was a Thinadhoo boat, the Arutha, which was helping to rescue survivors. Survivors said that if the Miyaren stayed to help, there would be more survivors today.
The crew of the Arutha said that they offered to compensate the 12 tons of the fish said to be in storage aboard the Miyaren, appealing to them to accept this offer and rescue the victims.
However, Miyaren left the scene, while some survivors were even clinging onto the boat, hoping to climb aboard it.
A survivor told Haveeru on Monday that one of the missing, 20-year-old Mohamed Aslam, was last seen clinging onto the Miyaren.
He said that a crew of Miyaren was actually trying to help Aslam climb aboard when the Miyaren increased speed, resulting in Aslam loosing his grip, and sinking into the wake.
“That was the last I saw of him,†the survivor said.