News Releases

Explosion at the CARIRI facility adjoining The UWI St. Augustine Campus

For Release Upon Receipt - September 13, 2013

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad & Tobago – At approximately 11am, there was an explosion at the Petroleum Lab of the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI), adjoining The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus.  

According to UWI St. Augustine’s Safety Manager, Rajesh Kandhai, two CARIRI employees were injured in the explosion and were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mt. Hope. The Trinidad and Tobago Fire Services were on site to contain the damage, and are investigating to determine the cause of the explosion. 

Campus Principal, Professor Clement Sankat, has expressed his concern for those injured and hopes for their quick and complete recovery. He commended the efforts of The UWI St. Augustine Campus Emergency Response Team (CERT) and The UWI Health Services Unit who were the first responders on the scene.  

CARIRI is an independent regional institution which shares a long-standing history with The UWI, and is located at the western end of the Campus, adjacent to the Faculty of Engineering buildings.

End 

About The UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences. 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.) 

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

Contact