EXCLUSIVE: Three St. Maarten patients passed away in Colombia after minor heart surgeries.

~ Two Guyanese nationals are among the deceased.~

PHILIPSBURG:— Three patients from St. Maarten who left the island for Cali Colombia has passed away after having minor heart interventions. The patients were taken to Clinica de Occidente in Cali Colombia.
Families of at least two of the deceased already filed complaint with the Social Insurance Bank (SZV) as they try to ascertain the cause of death of these persons.
Two Guyanese nationals are among the three persons that died in Cali Colombia at Clinica de Occidente.
They are Allan Paul Madray who will be laid to rest this Friday. He passed away on January 28th, 2023.

While the relatives of Gobin Bansie are also questioning his death since he was sent by air ambulance to Curacao for further medical treatment. Bansie was then transferred from Curacao to Cali Colombia at Clínica del Occidente.
It was expected that Bansie would have undergone surgery on Tuesday, February 7th, 2023. SMN News learned that the surgery was postponed to Wednesday even though the patient was transferred by air ambulance. According to close relatives, Bansie died while in operation.
While the grieving families have to come to terms with the sudden death of their loved ones, the Bansie families have to now wait for a period of two weeks before his remains are brought back to St. Maarten for burial.
In invited comment management of SZV said they were made aware of the cases and have now begun an investigation to determine how these patients died.
SZV management explained that they have been working with Clinica de Occidente for several years. They said the hospital is well known and is also being used by Curacao and other countries of the Kingdom.