It has been more than 14 days since a devastating late-night boat collision near the coastal community of Anse Cochon claimed four lives, and for grieving family members, surviving passengers, and close friends, the pain of their sudden loss remains raw as they share loving tributes to the victims who never returned home.
The four lives cut short in the tragedy span different ages and hometowns across the island: 21-year-old Mhakeida Nestor from La Fargue, Choiseul; 25-year-old Debbie Dolor from Market Road, Soufrière; and Marley William and Tyrone Paul, both residents of Barons Drive. Among the victims, Paul’s family has opened up about the disbelieving grief that has followed his death.
Dalpha Paul, Tyrone Paul’s sister, recalled the chaotic, heart-wrenching morning she learned her brother had not survived the crash. The collision took place shortly before midnight on Saturday, July 18, while Paul was asleep at home. It was not until the next morning, when she woke to a flood of alarming messages on the WhatsApp messaging platform, that she sensed something was terribly wrong.
“I woke up and saw everybody posting on WhatsApp, so I said let me go down the road because something happened,” Dalpha recounted. By the time she reached the crash site, family members had already confirmed the devastating news. What made the loss even harder to process was the fact that Tyrone was an experienced, skilled swimmer — a detail that left his family holding out hope for hours that he would make it out alive.
“Tyrone can swim. So if they go on shore and you don’t get him, what does that mean? That means Tyrone was gone already,” she said, her voice thick with tears. Remembering her brother’s gentle character, Dalpha described him as a universally loved member of their community whose kindness could not be summed up in words. “The word to describe Tyrone, I don’t think they’ll be able to get it in the dictionary; when it comes to loving, caring – everything in one. Tyrone was the lover boy of the community,” she added, holding back tears.
For survivors who lived through the crash, the terrifying moments immediately after the impact remain vivid and traumatic. Lester Jean, one of the passengers who escaped the collision, recalled that the two vessels, returning from a community party, collided with little warning, throwing the crowded boats into chaos.
“We heard a big noise. People were shouting for help. We didn’t even know if our boat hit them or they hit us. We were all struggling at the same time,” Jean said. In the chaotic aftermath, Jean and other uninjured survivors scrambled to search for passengers thrown into the dark coastal waters, calling out the names of the missing victims—Tyrone, Mhakeida (known to loved ones as Molly), and Debbie—while waiting for first responders to arrive. Jean suffered serious injuries in the crash, requiring multiple stitches for lacerations and losing his prosthetic eye from the force of the impact. Even weeks later, he said, the psychological trauma of that night remains difficult to work through.
Alan Jules, Tyrone Paul’s closest friend, said the ache of losing his constant companion has not faded in the weeks since the crash. “He was my real friend. He was my best friend,” Jules said. “It was a mistake… a terrible mistake.”
The deadly incident unfolded when two passenger vessels, the Ocean Angel and a Mango Tours boat, collided in coastal waters near Anse Cochon just minutes before midnight on July 18. Fourteen other passengers were treated for injuries ranging from minor to severe. Search and rescue teams spent four days scouring the surrounding waters for the missing victims, and the recovery of the bodies of Marley William and Tyrone Paul off the coast of Anse La Raye Bay brought the final death toll to four.
In the wake of the tragedy, local law enforcement has launched a formal investigation into the cause of the collision. To complement the police probe and address broader safety gaps, the national government has established a formal Commission of Inquiry tasked with examining every detail of the incident and proposing actionable reforms to strengthen maritime safety regulations and prevent similar fatal accidents in the future.