The elderly man whose body was recovered from the Gulf of Paria on Saturday by journalists and environmental activists investigating a massive fish kill has been identified as Satrohan Bunsee, 80, of Colley Street, Fyzabad.
Bunsee was spotted floating out to sea at around 9.05 am on Saturday by the group who were waiting for a boat to take them out to a location where a large number of dead fish had been spotted.
The group postponed their trip in an attempt to rescue Bunsee but by the time they reached him, little could be done to save his life. Yesterday at her Fyzabad home, Bunsee’s daughter Ann Rambachan told the T&T Guardian she realised her father was missing around noon on Saturday.
“I was calling him earlier in the day but he didn’t answer. I didn’t get worried yet but when I tried calling closer to lunch time and I still wasn’t getting an answer, I started calling other family members and neighbours to see if he was with them,” she said.
“The neighbour told me he left home around 8.30 and said he was going out the road.”
After dozens of frantic calls, Rambachan visited the Siparia Health Facility to see if her father had been there.
“I went in and asked but they said they had no record of him being there. We also called the San Fernando General Hospital and checked with the Casualty (department) but they said no as well.” She then visited Bunsee’s home and when she tried calling his cellphone again, she heard it ringing inside the house.
“I went in thinking he maybe was inside but after searching the whole house I still couldn’t find him,” she said.
By afternoon, Rambachan was very worried. She said: “I had made up my mind to buff him when he come home, I wasn’t thinking anything like this could have happened.”
At exactly 6.14 pm, she called her brother Anish to ask him if their father was with him and experienced something she still can’t explain.
“I had called Anish earlier and he wasn’t answering but that time he answered and I asked him, ‘Pa with you?’
“He said yes, Pa was with him all day and had only left five minutes before to come home.”
She left her home and went to Bunsee’s home again to wait for him but she was still waiting almost an hour later when a neighbour saw the report of his death at the Mosquito Creek on the CNC3 News and told her.
“The thing is, Anish say he never answered the phone, he never talk to me...my brother wouldn’t lie and I know I called him and no one else.” She pulled up the call log on her phone, highlighting the call to Anish’s number which lasted several minutes.
“I don’t know if that was a final comfort for me or if I was supposed to be by the house, I just don’t know,” Rambachan
Fighting back her tears, she recalled how she cooked for Bunsee and took care of him although they lived in separate houses.
“He used to say ‘I will tell you when to bring food for me,’ and if he didn’t call, I used to call and ask him,” she said.
Friday was last time she saw him alive.
“I took him to collect new glasses and then sent him home in a taxi. He seemed fine to me, but he said something he never really say before. He told me ‘God will bless you child’.”
Rambachan believes her father jumped into the swirling waters on Saturday in an attempt to end his life.
“I don’t know why he did it, but it is clear he intended that. He left home his wallet with his ID card and driver’s permit, his cell phone, his cane which he used to use all the time because his feet hurt from arthritis. He left everything behind.”
Rambachan and other relatives visited the San Fernando Mortuary where Bunsee’s body was identified.
An autopsy is expected to be done this morning and funeral arrangement’s will be made for later on in the week.