Funerals Begin For Guyana Ferry Disaster Victims As Recovery Total Rises To 72 And Vigil Set For NYC 

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Fri, July 25, 2026: Families across Guyana have begun burying their dead as the confirmed recovery total from the Guyana ferry disaster, the MV Barima, rose to 72 Thursday night, with 65 victims positively identified, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips said in his latest update.

With 179 people confirmed to have been aboard the ferry when it capsized on July 18, and 76 to 77 rescued in the days that followed, roughly 30 people remain unaccounted for as search and recovery operations continue.

Funerals were held Thursday for several of the identified victims, including Kevin Wilson, laid to rest in East Bank Berbice, and 11-year-old Ronaldo Poon, buried following a service in Wakenaam. Seven-year-old Adans Williams of Bartica was set to be laid to rest today, July 24th. Other victims identified so far include Paul Seepersaud, the MV Barima’s chief engineer; Viviana Sadruddin; Rubina Hernandez; Akeela Rodrigues; Rachel Wells and her three children, Nathaniel Jr., 8, Natalia, 5, and Ezekiel, 3; Bibi Akela Mohamed, 49 and Ravindra Singh, 46.

Opposition WIN Member of Parliament Deon La Cruz, who traveled to Port Kaituma to meet with survivors and victims’ families, said accounts from survivors were consistent: that the ferry was overloaded, that rescue boats took too long to arrive, and that survivors watched helplessly as others who could not hold on any longer went under. La Cruz said survivors have not yet received a single call from human services or any government representative checking on their well-being, and that many cannot sleep, replaying the sounds of screams and calls for help each time they close their eyes. La Cruz called on the Guyana Minister of Amerindian Affairs, the Minister of Social Services and Minister Collin Croal to urgently dispatch qualified counselors to the affected communities.

Meanwhile, Guyana opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed, who has participated directly in the search along the Pomeroon River from Sunday, said his search teams recovered more than 25 bodies in a single stretch of the operation and renewed his call for Guyana’s Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill to resign. Mohamed reported that at least three additional bodies were recovered today.

The tragedy has drawn attention from US officials representing New York’s large Guyanese-American community. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that he is “thinking of the Guyanese American community in New York this week,” adding that his office would do everything it can to help members of the diaspora affected by the disaster during Guyana’s period of national mourning.

In Brooklyn, a candlelight vigil for victims of the MV Barima tragedy is planned for today, Friday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the corner of Church and Utica Avenues in Brooklyn, NY and is open to all Guyanese and friends of Guyana.

The MV Barima’s manifest listed 133 people – 116 passengers and 17 crew – but investigators later confirmed at least 179 people were actually aboard, with dozens having boarded unofficially and never recorded. The ferry issued a distress call around 10:30 to 11 p.m. on July 18th while traveling through the North Atlantic off the Pomeroon River, roughly seven miles offshore near Iron Punt, an area mariners have long described as one of the most hazardous stretches of the Georgetown-to-Port Kaituma route due to unpredictable currents and sudden wave shifts as the ferry clears the shelter of the Demerara River and Essequibo River mouth. Survivors described a sudden, powerful wave or tide shift striking the vessel in the darkness.

Local fishermen were the first responders in the wee hours of the morning Sunday, followed by the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, private vessels and later support boats from ExxonMobil. Passengers and crew remained in the water for hours overnight before rescue reached them.