On the day British citizen Umar Mohammed was supposed to marry his Trinidadian sweetheart, Abigail Agard, Coast Guard divers were fishing his body from the Mayaro beach. At around 8 am yesterday, relatives found the bloated body of the 34-year-old information technology student floating near the shoreline at Grand Lagoon after he disappeared while sea bathing on Sunday. Relatives had been searching since 5 am and discovered his body near a river mouth at the end of Eccles Road.
According to Coast Guard public relations officer, Lt Kirk Jean-Baptiste, Mohammed’s body was discovered several miles north of the beach at Maloney Road where he went missing. Speaking with T&T Guardian yesterday Mohammed’s aunt, Zorina Mohammed, said relatives became hysterical after finding the body. However, she said, they now have closure knowing they could have his Janazah (funeral) later this week.
Mohammed, a regular visitor to Trinidad, was staying at his deceased grandmother’s Gangaram Branch Road home, New Grant, since last year. Agard said on Monday she and Mohammed were in the water when he decided to venture further out for a dive. At the same time, she said, they both dipped under the water to break a wave that was rushing toward them. However, when she resurfaced he was nowhere to be found.
Jean-Baptiste yesterday urged bathers using the beaches over the Carnival season not to venture into waters over waist height. He added that people using small vessels for fishing or transportation should wear lifejackets. “I want to emphasise that the sea is not place to play,” Jean-Baptiste said. An autopsy by Dr Valery Alexandrov yesterday confirmed that Mohammed drowned.