Managers from a state-owned fuel trading company in Trinidad and Tobago are facing 15 charges in connection to the deaths of four divers in 2022. The divers were tragically trapped in a pipeline while working on repairs. Two senior managers from Paria Fuel Trading Co., a subsidiary of Trinidad Petroleum Holdings, entered a plea of not guilty to accusations that they breached the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Alongside them, the director of Land and Marine Contracting Services Ltd., a company hired to repair the pipeline, was also charged. Reports from local newspapers mentioned that the director’s son was among those who lost their lives in the incident

The charges encompass allegations of failing to conduct a proper risk assessment and neglecting to establish or update an emergency plan. The divers met their demise after being pulled into the pipeline they were attempting to fix. A court hearing for this case is set for mid-January. Earlier this year, a governmental inquiry advised prosecutors to pursue corporate manslaughter charges against the company, citing insufficient effort made to rescue the divers. One diver survived the ordeal and provided an account to investigators

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The fatalities sparked outrage among many in the two-island nation in the Caribbean, prompting families of the deceased to push for adequate compensation while they anticipate the resolution of a negligence lawsuit.