Belize City Man Fell off Barge, Now Missing At Sea

The Belize Coast Guard launched a search party over the weekend to locate a Belize City resident who they believe fell off a barge. Reports are that the individual was along with a group of men transporting items from Belize City to Caye Chapel on Sunday. When they arrived at their location on Sunday night, they discovered that the missing man was nowhere to be found. Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, the Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, says they do not suspect any foul play.

 

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard

“On Sunday night we received information that one person went missing while transiting from Belize City out to Caye Chapel. He was on board a barge and somewhere Port of Stock, that would be about an hour outside of Belize City on a barge where he was last seen, believed to have fell off the barge. The members of the barge were not aware until they arrived at Caye Chapel and noticed that he was missing. We interviewed the crew and to support our search and rescue operations. We have been conducting operations since Sunday night, as of now we are still doing searches in between that area from Port of Stock towards Caye Chapel. So far, we have not been able to locate him.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Are there any suspicions of any sort of malicious intent in this case?”

 

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett

“Not that we are aware of. We are treating it as a genuine case of perhaps someone fell off a barge.”