Barbados: Mother, son drown

Nioca Howard and son Nico Roach died on Sunday in an apparent drowning. (GP)
Nioca Howard and son Nico Roach died on Sunday in an apparent drowning. (GP)

(Barbados Nation) The anguished wails and screams of Stacie Howard filled the air at Welches, Christ Church Sunday evening after she identified the bodies of her daughter and grandson who died in an apparent drowning.

Howard, canteen operator at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), had clung to her other daughter Jamila for support as they slowly made their way down the beach to where two covered bodies lay on the sand. They were those of Nioca Howard, 27, and her five-year-old son Nico Roach, who both lived with Stacie at Emerald Park West, Six Roads, St Philip. Nioca used to help her mother run the canteen.

Police public relations officer, Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss, said police at Oistins received a report about 4:15 p.m. that two people – an adult female and a young boy – had drowned while at Welches Beach.

“On arrival at the scene, police confirmed the two bodies on the sand. Further investigations informed that they were both floating in the water and were pulled from the sea by two individuals who were walking along the beach, who tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate them,” he said.