Forty-four years ago, eleven young Guyanese, mostly students on scholarships in Cuba, perished in one of the worst Cuban air disasters in history.
The tradegy took place on October 6, 1976, which took 73.
On that tragic day, passengers were on Cubana Airways Flight CU-455 en route from Guyana to Cuba.
The flight’s path was expected to take them from Timehri to Trinidad, Trinidad to Barbados, Barbados to Jamaica, and finally Kingston to Havana, Cuba. However, nine minutes after it took off from Barbados, two bombs exploded in the plane, causing it to crash into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Guyanese who perished were Sabrina Harripaul, Eric Norton, Ann Nelson, Raymond Persaud, Margaret Bradshaw, Gordon M. Sobha, Rawle Thomas, Rita Thomas, Violet Thomas, Jacqueline Williams and Seshnarine Kumar.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali, today, attended the commemoration ceremony of the Cubana Air disaster, which was held at the Cubana Air Disaster Monument, at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus.
The Head of State joined relatives of the victims, ministers and other officials of Government, including Foreign Affairs Minister, Hugh Todd; Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Charles Ramson; Honourary Consul to Barbados, Captain Gerry Gouveia; and the Cuban Ambassador to Guyana, Narciso Reinaldo Amador Socorro, for the annual wreath laying ceremony in honour of the victims.
