Captain of ill-fated boat charged

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KINGSTON – The 57-year-old captain of a boat that sank earlier this week, resulting in the death of two men has been charged with operating an unlicensed vessel.

Police said that Hurbert Dowie, who was in charge of the small boat with 13 passengers that capsized as it made its way from Port Royal to Lime Cay, one of the small cays to the south of here, on Thursday, will appear in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Monday, January 21.

On Thursday, the police said that the boat that left the fishing village of Port Royal, shortly after 8 a.m., developed difficulties due to poor weather conditions and capsized an hour later.

The authorities have since identified the two women killed as 35-year-old Janelle Decasseres and 45-year-old Edith Petscha.

Lieutenant Aceion Prescott of the Marine Division of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), had said the JDF had been able to rescue people, some of whom were swimming to shore, soon after the incident. (CMC)