July 6, 1964, for most Guyanese back then had begun like any other day. For Claude Patoir, a resident of Ituni, and employee of Norman Chapman, an enterprising businessman, it was just a regular working day. Little did he know it would be one he would never forget!Claude PatoirClaude, along with two of his co-workers, had disembarked the vessel they had been loading at the “fish koker wharf” in Georgetown and headed to an eating place in the La Penitence market to have breakfast.Later on their way back to the launch, the Son Chapman, the three men encountered a man named Brown, who told them, ’Boy allyuh boat gon blow up!’Patoir,Cheap Stitched MLB Jerseys, now 67, said they were not afraid, as they had been hearing of threats to “blow up” the boat, but nonetheless decided to call the police, who subsequently checked the boat and found nothing unusual.The men continued with loading the launch and left Georgetown for Linden about 11am, that day with less than a full complement of passengers.Soon the men would forget the man at the Koker that had warned them, as they ferried up the Demerara River.’It was a beautiful day and the crew members and some of the passengers, were on deck just enjoying the trip laughing and talking. We made a couple of stops along the way to put off persons, not actually stopping at a ’landing’, but just stopping in the river briefly as the passengers got into smaller boats that came out to meet them.Our only real stop was at Horadia, which was the only stop that had a “stelling” and two people got off there, one Winifred Douglas, and her reputed husband Alex Campbell; Patoir recollected.Those two must have counted their lucky stars that day, as less than 20 minutes later, the serenity of the Demerara River was shattered as a terrible explosion rocked the Son Chapman.Douglas would later report how after disembarking the launch, she and her husband had walked just a short distance when they heard the explosion.“One of the men on deck with us, who was known as ’Dodi’, had just gotten married, and was on his way down the steps to get some of his wedding cake to share with us. He never got to the cake!”“When I heard the explosion, I thought it was the engine,Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys, but as I ran past, the chimney was smoking, so the engine had to be running still.”“Looking in the hull of the boat, I saw people there just sitting like they were in shock, or maybe they were already dead!”“Everything happened so fast, I think we were all in shock.” Patoir recounted.Forty-three persons lost their lives tragically that day.The few persons who were saved included the entire boat crew, who were mostly on the deck and bow.Fortunately for them, another launch which the Son Chapman had passed on the ill-fated trip, soon came along and took some of them to Linden .Residents of Horadia, also came out in their paddle boats and rendered assistance.Meanwhile, news of the horrific tragedy travelled like wildfire, plunging Linden which was then known as Mckenzie, into deep mourning.“It was the worst thing I have ever witnessed; never have I seen anything like that, except perhaps in the movies. It was a really sad time; for all those people were like family, as they would travel with us,Wholesale Jerseys Authentic, sometimes two, three times a week. And they were good to us, they would often bring us lunch and so on, as most of us who worked on the boat at the time were bachelors.Sometimes we would even cook on the boat, and the hucksters would give us fish and provisions.And even with all the threats of bombing the launch that were circulating, they would never travel with any other launch.As a matter of fact, some of them responded to the threats saying, “If we ga fo dead, we gon dead pon the Son Chapman.” Patoir recalled.Little did they know that those words would prove to be prophetic?Patoir said that his worst recollection of the tragedy was helping to retrieve the bodies of those who had died, and helping to identify them.“It was dreadful, that sight. People were dismembered, and one woman who was pregnant, had spontaneously given birth! The foetus lay entangled with her entrails, close to her. She had been disemboweled!But the hardest part was watching as bodies that were retrieved days later, being tied together like a makeshift raft to take to Linden .A few of them that were in a terrible state of decomposition were buried right at Horadia,” Patoir added.Persons in the vicinity reported how rank the river was for days after; and seeing the grotesquely bloated bodies popping out of the water.Owner of the vessel, Norman Chapman, said he was not surprised when he received the terrible news, as he had long been hearing of plans to ’was