The body of 53-year-old Lilkumar, who died abruptly on the Lady Zai en route to St Lucia two weeks ago was cremated yesterday following funeral rites in his hometown at Winsor Forest, West Coast Demerara.
The Lady Zai, a Saint Vincent & the Grenadines registered ship which is managed by a Guyanese company—KB Enterprise—departed Guyana two weeks ago with a ten-man crew destined for the Vieux Fort Seaport with animal grains.
When the ship arrived at a St Lucia dock Lilkumar was dead and another crew member, Latchman Seeram was suffering from respiratory illness.
At a news conference on March 11 St Lucian Senior Medical Officer Dr Sharon Belmar-George had said an emergency post mortem, was performed on his remains and the cause of death was listed as broncho-pneumonia.
But his relatives remain suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his death and do not believe that he died of natural causes.
Speaking to Stabroek News, his brother Hamchand said his body arrived in Guyana on Friday. He said he was very close with his brother and the day before Lilkumar left for the sea he was healthy and did not complain of any pains. “I know my brother… I know how he left,” he said.
Meanwhile Seeram was treated and released. However, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) has not received further word on the condition of the other seamen.
According to a statement from MARAD last week, the quarantine on the Lady Zai and its crew was “conditionally lifted”. Officials from St. Lucia said that the entire ship should undergo sanitization before its cargo is offloaded and also prior to its departure from the island.
The cargo aboard the Lady Zai is the property of the Caribbean Grains—a Vieux Fort Freezone feed mill which produces feed for all types of farm animals for the local market.
