Owia fishermen attacked, boat sunk

The daily endeavours of two Owia men were rudely interrupted when they were attacked while fishing outside Baleine early Tuesday morning.{{more}}

SEARCHLIGHT understands that around 7 a.m., three men in a St Lucian registered pirogue named “Wanted” with a 115 hp engine bore down on the fishermen in their small boat firing shots and shouting “Ar yo (expletives) Ary o dead now”.

The men jumped overboard while the pirogue rammed their boat’s side; sinking it. Seventeen-year-old Ambrose Williams and 29-year-old Peter Baptiste were left to the mercies of the raging sea; however both men were rescued by separate boats and each thought the other was dead.

Around 1:30 p.m. Williams turned up at the Chateaubelair Police Station to report the incident; he told the police that Baptiste had died, Baptiste showed up soon after at the station to report that Williams had died in the incident. Both men were eventually reunited in Chateaubelair.

The Coast Guard was called and both men were taken back to the area where the incident occurred, however the St Lucian vessel had long gone.