Family search scaled down


PM Arthur visited the area
Authorities in Barbados say they do not expect to find a missing family of five alive, after their apartment collapsed into an underground cave early Sunday morning.
The incident is said to have occurred just one week after the family moved into the apartment on Arch Cot Terrace, Brittons Hill, just outside the capital Bridgetown.

Missing are three children, aged between one and seven years, and their mother and father.

Sniffer dogs and listening equipment, brought in Sunday by a specialist team from Florida's Miami-Dade Police Department, have failed to detect any signs of life in the cave, which is said to be 50ft deep.

As a result, the rescue mission, which involved about 200 emergency officers, has been scaled down to a recovery operation.

Prime Minister Owen Arthur delivered the bad news to Barbadians.

He said: "The rescue team, drawn from the very best the United States has to offer, did work through the night and the early morning and the information and advice presented to us is that it is very highly unlikely that there are any survivors.

"We now have to take decisions to move forward with this very difficult situation."

Barbados is a coral limestone island with a network of underground caves.

However such a tragedy is unknown in the island's recent history.

Mr Arthur indicated that seismological testing of the area will continue, in an effort to determine the cause of the incident.