Search resumes for woman washed away in St. Catherine flood on Friday

The search resumed on Saturday morning for a 63 year-old woman who was washed away by flood waters at Russell Pen in Linstead, St Catherine on Friday afternoon.

Firefighters and police were able to rescue another woman who was also swept away.

It was reported that the two women were in separate vehicles on York Street main road about three o’clock when water from the Rio Cobre carried their vehicles away.

Residents, police and fire fighters are searching the river and the surrounding vegetation in Russell Pen for the missing woman.

Senior Superintendent Hopton Nicholson, Commanding Officer for the St Catherine North Police division, revealed that she is now presumed to have died.

“Somebody saw her in the water yesterday in the afternoon; they saw her when she was washed away, and she has not been seen since, and the search has been very thorough, as best as practicable with the limitations,” he explained.

He said the flood water has now receded, but added that, with the river being more than 32 miles long, it might take some time to conclude the search.

“We are going to continue, and we hope to bring closure… relatively as short as we can so that the family can have the proper closure,” he said.

Both motor cars have been found.

Rescuer's lament

Nemo Harriett, the resident who rescued the woman in Russell Pen on Friday, said it was his civic duty to assist her, but he expressed sorrow that he was unable to reach the second woman.

Mr Harriett explained that he was at a business establishment when heard screaming, “then one of my neighbors come and say, ‘Is like somebody get wash away.’”

It was then, he recalled, that “Me instinct just kick in and me run to the gully… And I decided that I would just cut through the bush. Then me hear the screaming… Then I saw a lady in the gutter… And then I cross the water and when I reached to her she was showing me that there was another lady that was washed away. But, you know, me just couldn't save the two of them.”