KUNGI
– Fr. Robinson Parappilly sdb
Wesly Gunugu
Rabaul Queen Survivor returns
Dead man walking
Wesley Gunagu, survivor of MV Rabaul Queen disaster, reunited with his Principal, Sr Leena
John, and Br John Tien, and others from Don Bosco Institute of Technology
at Kundiawa, Kumgi, Simbu Province, PNG
KUMGI PNG -- February 2nd was the most tragic day
in the history of PNG. M.V.Rabaul Queen ferry which
carried up to 600 passengers from Rabaul to Lae went
down to the ocean floor at the depth of 1300 -1600 m.
On that day I had travelled to Lae to collect the uniforms for
our students which were being shipped by M.V. Rabaul
Queen. Since there was a road block after 80kms, I had to
return home. Upon my arrival I came to know the tragic
accident and the loss of people (and potentially, of our
uniforms, worth 60,000 Kina). After one hour I received a
call from the manufacturer of the uniforms telling me about
the accident and that our uniforms were safe; since there
was no space on the vessel they had to off load our
uniforms!
Wesly had perished on the M.V.Rabaul Queen and his body
was missing.
I was in Lae picking up the uniforms and also received the
SMS at about 10.30pm. Since I had the news paper and the
name list, I just wanted to make sure of the name and I
found, to my surprise, that Wesly was now on the Survival
list! I immediately called the school telling them that the boy
was alive. Meanwhile Fr. Angelo had printed the photo of
the boy and preparations were well in progress at school for
the Requiem Mass the following day. We manage to acquire
the mobile number of Wesly’s aunty who was in Lae and
Wesly joined me on 16th to return to Don Bosco. He was
given a rousing welcome by all Bosconians who were so
happy to see the survivor Bosconian.
Our real worry was the number of students who might have
been aboard the passenger ship. Since it was the opening
of the school year we knew there were many students likely
to be on board. Wesly Gunugu is one of our students who
boarded from Kimbe and travelled on the ill-fated ship.
Wesly came to Don Bosco Kumgi in 2011 as part of the
Independent Fellowship Program (IFS) sponsored by the
government of PNG. After completing one year of study in
Basic Electricity at Don Bosco, he wanted to join the school
for another two years vocational training. He was accepted
and returned home for his holidays. On February 1st,
together with his sister who is a second year student at
Divine Word University, he boarded the ship to come to Don
Bosco. The ship, believed to be carrying up to 600 people,
sank at 6. a.m. in rough seas off the coast of Finschhafen in
Morobe province, while on its way from Rabaul to Lae.
Wesly's whereabouts were not known to anyone at school.
On February 14th when the disaster office published the list
of missing people and survivors, Wesly's name was found
on it. One of his class mates who found Wesly's name, sent
an SMS message to students at school asking for prayers
and his eternal repose. The message spread fast that
Wesly, who had been sleeping on the bottom deck, had
came up top for his morning needs. Ferocious waves were
lashing the vessel and at one moment the vessel lost its
balance. According to him very strong rough 5 meter high
waves engulfed the vessel and he was thrown from the
ship. He removed his shoes and trousers and started to
swim away from ship. He could see that within a few
minutes the whole vessel had gone down, dragging most of
the people with it. There were only six life-rafts available for
survivors. He grabbed hold of one of these rafts clinging on
for five hours and battled the rough waters to save his life. A
Chinese cargo ship rescued them. He came to Lae the
following day. His beloved sister whom he had left asleep
on the bottom deck of the ship is lost forever.
The Salesians, sisters, staff and students are happy to
welcome our Survivor Bosconian back to his Alma Mater.
We thank the good Lord for the gift of second life he has
given to Wesly and the protection of Our Blessed Mother.
We pray for the eternal repose of the souls of all who
perished in the disaster and God may give peace and
consolation to their families and all those who have
survived.
TAVUR
-‐
The
newsle.er
of
the
Salesian
delega8on
of
Papua
New
Guinea
and
the
Solomon
Islands
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