Final report delays Hilton drowning inquest

SENIOR police officers at the Port-of-Spain Division are awaiting a report from the Belmont police to begin the inquest into the death of schoolboy Shawn Antoine, who drowned during a school outing at the Hilton Trinidad. “While we have the preliminary report that we received shortly after the drowning, a final report has not come in. Once we get the final report, we will be able to proceed with the inquest. Following the inquest, we will know then if charges are to be laid and against whom.”

Antoine, 17, a Form Five student of the Excel Edu Care College on the Southern Main Road, Curepe, drowned at the Hilton pool on October 13. Shortly after the drowning, the Ministry of Education issued a notice stating it does not approve education tours to rivers, seas and swimming pools, and as such the Hilton part of the tour was unauthorised. In a statement made at the teen’s funeral service at Bethel Pentecostal Church in Arima, principal Wahid Ali admitted his teachers took a chance and deviated from the field trip.