Hiking Standards Call Follows Reported Marianne Gorge Recovery

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Donald Francis went missing at Marianne Gorge, Blanchisseuse, during a hiking trip on Sunday 1 November, according to IzzSo, citing the Hunters Search and Rescue Team.

Sources: IzzSo, 2 Nov, 3:01 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

The outlet reports that he tried to swim across the gorge at about 3:30 p.m. to join others, but did not reach them. It says members of the group searched for him, followed by police and search-and-rescue volunteers that evening.

IzzSo says the search resumed on Monday morning with firefighters, police and search-and-rescue volunteers. Its 3:01 p.m. report attributes to the Hunters Search and Rescue Team the announcement that firefighters had recovered his body at the gorge. The cause of death has not been established in an original medical or police account reviewed for this brief.

Sources: IzzSo, 2 Nov, 3:01 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

On Tuesday 3 November, IzzSo reported that the Hiking Association of Trinidad and Tobago had renewed calls for safety standards and guide accountability following Francis’s death. The report also describes an appeal for informal hiking groups to come under common standards. These are reported policy demands, not findings that a particular organiser or guide caused this incident or breached a rule.

Sources: IzzSo, 3 Nov, 12:45 p.m. Trinidad time ↗

The association’s own published mandate includes developing minimum operational standards for hiking clubs, training and certification for hike leaders, and advocacy for safer hiking. That longstanding mandate provides background to the call; it does not establish that a mandatory national standard is already in force.

Sources: Hiking Association of Trinidad and Tobago — mandate ↗