Adriana Younge’s drowning: Govt has gone overboard to meet family’s demands – VP

…slams Opposition for exploiting tragedy

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo has responded sharply to criticisms surrounding the government’s handling of the Adriana Younge’s drowning, stating that the administration has “gone overboard” in meeting the demands of the child’s family, while accusing sections of the political opposition of exploiting the tragedy for political gain.

Speaking candidly during a recent press conference, Jagdeo said that despite extensive efforts to ensure transparency, including acceding to multiple requests from the family and their representatives, political operatives have continued to stir controversy around the case.
“We have gone overboard in meeting the requests of the family, especially at the beginning,” Jagdeo stated. “We criticized the police for how they acted and the misleading statements that came from them. Publicly. We acceded to the family’s request to bring in their own pathologist, and we even hired two additional international pathologists to work alongside them.”
The Vice President stressed that a forensic autopsy, attended by the family’s lawyer, their chosen doctor, and others, was conducted and its results shared with the family and the public.
“The result was that the child died from drowning. That’s the first step. The next step is determining whether there was foul play or not. That’s what the investigation is now trying to establish,” he explained.

Jagdeo emphasized that no other case in the country’s history had received such scrutiny, with three international pathologists involved in the autopsy process. Despite this, he expressed frustration at ongoing calls for yet another post-mortem.
“Still, they want to bring some man from Trinidad — a controversial guy — to do another autopsy, hoping for a different result,” Jagdeo said, suggesting that some political actors are looking to manufacture a conflicting narrative.
The body of 11-year-old Adriana Younge was discovered in the pool of the now-gutted Double Day Hotel at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo on Thursday, April 24 – almost 24 hours after she was reported missing from the facility.
The child, along with her grandmother and other relatives, had gone to the poolside on Wednesday, April 23. She was reported missing at around 14:00hrs and despite initial searches in the pool, her body was not found.
The post-mortem examination (PME), conducted by a team of three internationally recognized pathologists, including Dr. Glenn Rudner, Dr. Gary Collins, and Dr. Shubhakar Karra Paul, concluded that her cause of death was consistent with drowning. The autopsy cited classic signs such as fluid in the lungs which is consistent with drowning. It was also revealed that there was no physical trauma or violence to her body.