On Fri, 12 Oct 2001 13:50:05 -0400, Reef Fish
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Sue found the version below in this morning's Norfolk news:
>http://www.weather.com/newscenter/topstories/recreation/boatandbeach/011011
h
>urricaneiris.html
>
>
>It is particularly ironic that while 13,000 were left homeless in
>Belize, the only death victims of Hurricane Iris in Belize were those
>on the M/V Wave Dancer!

A very disturbing version by still ANOTHER survivor was given by
an Assistant Cook who WAS on board and had a first hand report of
what transpired, but was not even mentioned in any of the reports!
Angela Luk apparently took matters much more seriously than the
Captain and crew, and the passengers who HAD an opportunity to go
on land as she did, but chose not to, in favor of drinking in the
lounge instead.  Angela lost her job, but SURVIVED!  The quotes
were taken from a transcript of an interview a reporter had with
Angela Luk.


--------------- lifted from a post in rec.scuba ----------------

This message was sent to the Bz-Culture Mailing List from "Susan
Guberman-Garcia" <[log in to unmask]>:

Shouldn't there be a criminal prosecution for reckless homicide?
Can corporations be indicted in Belize?

By the way:  The surviving employee who is interviewed below (Angela Luk)
was NOT listed on the www.peterhughesdiving.com web site with the other
deceased employees.  I guess they "forgot" to include her, presumably so
that, when the media asks them about her, they can deny she was even
there!!!!!

The following comes from Channel 5, Bze City:

The first of two Belizean crewmembers who perished while aboard the dive
boat Wave Dancer was buried this afternoon in Corozal. Eloisa Johnson, the
boat's cook, died with nineteen others on Monday night when the Wave Dancer
capsized in the port of Big Creek while trying to ride out Hurricane Iris.
Tonight, one member of the boat's crew tells News 5 that even though the
Belizeans wanted to seek shelter inland, the captain told them that if they
left, they would be fired. Angela Luk, the assistant cook, decided that her
life was worth more than her job and walked away...but couldn't convince the
others to go with her. Janelle Chanona reports.

Angela Luk, Assistant Cook, Wave Dancer
"I don't think you should worry about comfort and those things when the
hurricane coming directly to you. You should just run for your life."

Janelle Chanona, Reporting That's exactly what twenty-five year old Angela
Luk did on Monday night. Luk had been employed as the relief assistant cook
aboard the dive boat Wave Dancer since May of this year. The passengers and
crew were moored at Lighthouse Reef on Sunday, when they first got wind that
there was a hurricane watch in effect for Belize.

Angela Luk
"From Sunday night, we went to bed already about nineo'clock and one of the
crewmembers came to knock on our door and he said: You guys need to go to
the kitchen and secure everything. We might leave tonight, either to Big
Creek or Belize City. At that time, there was drinking already, having fun,
joking around, like nothing is happening around."

But early Monday morning, instead of heading for Belize City, the captain,
identified only as Philip, steered the boat south, heading for the deep
water port of Big Creek to wait the storm out. By this time, there were
predictions that Hurricane Iris would hit the lower part of the country
hardest. The passengers trusted the captain's judgement but the decision did
not sit well with the Belizean crew.

Angela Luk
"From Lighthouse to Big Creek, it took us about seven hours and I don't
think the captain wanted any staff to get off at that time because on Sunday
night, the cook went to the captain...I was right beside them, and she told
him, during Mitch, they let off the local crews...whoever wanted to get off
the boat got off at the Fort George Dock and then they continued go to Big
Creek. But he said, "If you guys come off the boat, who will cook and clean
the cabins?" So he was not going to let anyone off. But the guests, the
captain told the guests that Big Creek is a very safe place and the only
thing you will feel is a little bit of breeze.

During the trip from Lighthouse to Big Creek, that day, they wasn't drinking
during the day. They were checking out the computer,  checking out the
pictures they had taken, having fun, painting each other toenails and so on.
So they wasn't worry a lot."

When the Wave Dancer docked at Big Creek, the twenty passengers were happy
to see the other members of their group from Richmond, Virginia aboard the
Belize Aggressor, which had also decided to seek shelter in the south. Luk
says the passengers opted to stay aboard, enjoying the company of friends,
but she herself had already planned to go to Belmopan. But the captain's
reaction to her decision will shock you.

Angela Luk
"The boat docked at Big Creek by the port about little bit after three
o'clock and then my boyfriend arrived and I left. Before I left, I went to
inform the second captain first. I said, "I'm sorry, the hurricane is coming
directly to us and I'm not going to stay on the boat and risk my life." He
told me, "You cannot leave, you still have a job to do." I said, "I'm sorry
I'm still going for my life." Then I went to the captain and I told him the
same thing and he said, "If you go, you're not coming back." I said, "That's
fine, I'm still going. I'm not going to be stupid and stay on the boat and
risk my life."

Luk says the other crewmembers were confused and worried as they checked in
with their families. She says she tried to convince the others to leave with
her, but in the end, no one else came ashore.

Angela Luk
"They was really worried, there was crying and they was confused. They don't
know if they should go home, they wonder if they could go back to Corozal or
if they should stay on the boat. But they decided to stay."

The crew that stayed behind included cook Eloisa Johnson. Johnson's husband,
Albert Hall says his wife wanted to get off the boat.

Albert Hall, Husband of Eloisa Johnson
"She said, "Babes, I think we're okay. The guy told me, if I leave, I'm
fired." I said, "Forget that, get off that boat." And she was mad and she
wanted to get off. I know she wanted to get off. She told me that this guy
said she had to cook food for these guests."

Angela Luk
"The other girl, Brenda Wade, she had talked to her mother I'm sure, but I
am not sure if she had talked to her sister before I left. I had offered her
to come with me too but she said, I believe that when your time is come, she
say, it's your time. So she say, If anything, if the hurricane hit, she said
she would rather die on the boat."

Those last words haunted Angela Luk when she learned of the tragic fate of
the Wave Dancer late Monday night.

Angela Luk
"I was like, cold seed was all over. I was really worried about my
co-workers first. I didn't know anything, I heard fifteen persons had died
and I found out two of the co-workers had died but I didn't know who was it.
But when I found out that it was the two girls that worked with me, they
died, I was really sad. I couldn't believe at that moment that they had
really died."

The Belizean survivors included dive master Bart Stanley, and another
crewmember named Chico. Funeral services for Brenda Wade are expected to
take place on Friday. Captain Philip Martin and owner Peter Hughes of Wave
Dancer were in Big Creek today and could not be reached for comment.

---------  end reporter's version of Angela Luk's version ---------

-- Bob.