TRAGEDY in Trinidad and Tobago! Divers caught in an underwater oil pipeline.

On February 25, 2022, a tragic incident occurred on a pipeline owned by Paria Fuel Trading Company, shocking Trinidad and Tobago and attracting international attention. Five divers performing underwater work were sucked into the pipeline.

The group of five divers (Christopher Budram, Fazil Karim, Yusuf Henry, Kazim Ali Jr. and Rishad Khan) was working on an underwater pipeline located in Point-a-Pierre Bay. They were employees of the contractor Lindsay Oil & Gas and were performing maintenance on the pipeline.

The divers were tasked with inspecting and cleaning a 36-inch pipeline. To do this, they used special equipment, including underwater vehicles and tools for working at depth. The work was carried out in difficult conditions, as the pipeline was located at a considerable depth underwater.

During the work, the divers were inside an underwater chamber connected to the pipeline. The absolute pressure inside the chamber is 1.45 bar (atmospheric pressure is about 1 bar). Four divers are working directly in the chamber, and a fifth arrives to hand the team a wrench.

At that moment, one of the divers removes the plug in the chamber, opening the pipeline. There is a sharp pressure drop, and all the divers are simply sucked into this pipeline with a diameter of about 60 cm.