Seychelles police investigate suspected foul play in the death of 40 year old fisherman

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles police has reported that 4 Seychellois men appeared before the Courts yesterday and have been remanded in custody until October 13 in relation to “the suspicious death” of Michel Robertson Adela, a 40 year old Seychellois national who was residing in the Pointe Larue district on the eastern coast of Seychelles main island of Mahé.

Adela who was a crew member onboard a fishing vessel MV NELIZ was reported to have drowned while out at sea on Monday September 22.

The 4 men, aged 27, 34, 40 and 41 years who have been arrested include the skipper and three other crew members of MV NELIZ.

“Following initial investigation and subsequent post-mortem result carried out on Mr Adela on Friday 26th it is believed that there could be foul play in his death,” read the police statement issued this morning.

The Seychelles police has confirmed that post-mortem carried out on Adela’s body revealed “asphyxia, head injuries (subdural and subarchnoid hemorrhage), bilateral pulmonary edema and obstruction of his trachea by a tooth implant.”

A police statement issued last Thursday September 25, read that Adela was reported to have drowned near the island of St Pierre belonging to the Alphonse Group located some 400km southwest of Mahé.

The alleged drowning incident was reported to have happened on Monday September, 22.

“According to his 4 colleagues they were fishing close to the above mentioned Island when Adela decided to swim ashore to collect birds’ dropping ‘guano’ when he encountered difficulty swimming due to strong current,” read the police statement.

The four men told the police that their attempt to save their colleague was not successful but that they later managed to retrieve his body from the sea.

Adela’s body was transported to Alphonse island where they received the assistance of the island’s management to preserve the body while the police was contacted.

According to the statement Adela’s body was put on a tarpaulin and preserved with ice on the MV NELIZ until the police and other relevant authorities arrived on Alphonse on Wednesday September 24, two days after the incident was reported to have happened.

He was certified dead at 3.57pm local time on Wednesday.

An investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of death of Michel Robertson Adela.