Venezuelan pirates rob and shot at Trinidadian fishermen in a pirogue yesterday near the Gulf of Paria. One man was killed and another wounded while the other three were able to make an escape in the water.
Lieutenant Commander Kirk Jean-Baptiste, PRO for the T&T Coast Guard informed T&T Guardian that five men in a pirogue said they went to the Hibiscus Plateau to retrieve their fishing nets.
On their return, somewhere between the Hibiscus Plateau and the Gulf of Paria the men were approached by a group of Venezuelans in a pirogue. The bandits held them up, robbed them of their tool kits and whatever else they had on board, and then opened fire on them.
Jean-Baptiste said some men dove into the water to escape injury but one man was fatally shot.
The men were brought to Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas at approximately 6pm.
Jean-Baptiste said another man was “seriously shot,” sustaining arm wounds. He was stabilised by the Coast Guard doctor and the medics rushed him to St James infirmary.
Investigations are continuing.