Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission – Hearing Number 267 More witnesses share testimonies in the Anse Faure fatal explosion |23 April 2022

The incident which happened at Anse Faure in the afternoon of September 22, 1979 when three innocent teenagers lost their lives after an explosive device blew up while they were getting ready to play football, was the highlight of yesterday’s hearing of the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission.

The explosion instantly killed Patrick De Sylva, Andre Etienne and Micky Pouponneau, while badly injuring Daniel De Sylva – brother of Patrick –  and Peter Pouponneau – brother of Micky – , both with cases before the commission.

Witness as well as complainant France De Sylva – brother of Patrick and Daniel – was the first person to appear before the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) to give his version of the incident in cases 500, 501 and 502 filed by Daniel De Silva, Peter Pouponneau and Jean-Baptiste Etienne and Michel Etienne respectively.

To begin his testimony, Mr De Sylva who was speaking via Skype, said he was at home listening to music on that particular day when he heard an explosion, and he immediately thought that it was a gas cylinder at the Katiolo discotheque that had exploded.

He said he left his house and walked towards the Katiolo discotheque when he saw an injured Peter Pouponneau limping out the discotheque and he told him to go and check on his brother.

Mr De Sylva said upon reaching the small grassy terrain where the boys were supposed to be playing football, he noticed three of them lying on the ground and immediately recognised his brother – Micky –, badly injured, mainly in the head area.

He said he checked his brother’s pulse and noticed that there was not any, while noticing a huge crater, of approximately one metre deep a few metres away.

Mr De Sylva added that when he looked towards the beach, he saw his other brother – Daniel – rolling on the beach and also badly injured, and went to pick him up.

He said the late Guy Pool, an army officer at that time, arrived on the scene at the same moment and picked something up next to a Takamaka tree, before asking him to put Daniel in his car which was in the Katiolo discotheque’s car park.

Mr De Sylva noted that he noticed Mr Pool hid the object among the rocks, before hearing him say there was one missing.

He said after the incident, he asked Mr Pool what was the object and he replied “Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG)”.

Mr De Sylva said he accompanied his brother Daniel and Peter Pouponneau to the hospital, and noted that Mr Pool drove recklessly, but he was grateful that they made it on time.

Following the incident, Mr De Sylva, who was 19 years old at that time, said life became a nightmare and it was difficult for him to face reality, accepting that his brother Patrick had died.

Complainant Jean-Baptiste Etienne who also lost a son – Andre Etienne – in the incident, was the third person to appear before the TRNUC yesterday to share his testimony.

Mr Etienne who was working at the Roman Catholic mission at that time said a week prior to the incident, coincidently, his late son drew a picture of three tombstones, to which he said he was puzzled and confused.

Only a week after, his son Andre was killed by the explosion.

Mr Etienne said he was visiting a plot of land he had just bought when a car approached the area, before he could hear his name being called several times in a panic sort of way, and he recognised the voice of his wife, who got out of the car and started crying.

The only thing she told him was to go and check on his son who has had an accident near the Katiolo discotheque.

He said upon arriving at the Katiolo discotheque, he noticed the presence of military and police officers who told him that his child was at the hospital.

Mr Etienne said when he arrived at the hospital, he once again noticed heavy presence of police and army officers, before being informed by ex-minister, the late Mathew Servina that his son Andre had passed away.

He said he almost did not recognise his son, due to the severity of his injuries.

He added that Brother Imier of the Catholic mission assisted him with a coffin and some money for the funeral arrangements.

Similar to the other witnesses, Mr Etienne said it was very difficult for him to cope with life after the incident.

He explained that he was told by former President France Albert Rene that the bomb was placed there by the enemies of the revolution, before being offered a cheque worth R15,000.

Following that, Mr Etienne said he worked as a driver at the Ministry of Youth and Defence, before venturing into Taxi business until he retired following a road accident and his car was written off. He is now a pensioner.

Ex-police officer Mivonne Barallon was also before the commission yesterday, giving evidence in the cases regarding the incident.

Roland Duval