By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Darren Henfield said yesterday the government has done everything “humanly possible” to determine what led to the deaths of Blair John and Alrae Ramsey in Turin, Italy earlier this month.

He was responding to recent criticism made by Progressive Liberal Party chairman Fred Mitchell who said the Minnis administration should take a stronger stance when it comes to the investigation.

The bodies of Ramsey, 29, and John, 28, are expected to arrive in the country sometime this week, Mr Henfield told reporters. They were found in the Po river in Turin on June 4 and 5 respectively.

“As I reiterate, my focus has been with the families. I am a father of three. My sons are about the ages of the young men who were lost - two young men with tremendous promise for this country and of course for their families,” Mr Henfield said.

“I have been engaged with the Italian government in Rome where I speak as needs arise with the deputy foreign minister. He is at the end of my phone. I can reach out and touch him at any time. My officials have been in Turin since this incident occurred. Right now my director general is in Turin and she will accompany the bodies home.

“We have done all that is humanly possible to determine what happened to keep the families engaged and to return our sons to the Bahamas so that they can be properly buried.

“There will always be criticisms. Of course people will determine that they can do things one way or the other, but ours is through diplomatic channels.

“I think we have been doing our best to try and get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate event.”

This is in addition to regularly speaking with relatives to apprise them of the information made available by Italian authorities, Mr Henfield said, adding the government had not gotten an official word on the toxicology reports of both men.

According to some Italian news outlets, results of the autopsies conducted earlier this month state drowning as the cause of death.

John’s father Randolph John, 56, does not believe the men died by drowning, and added that if the men indeed drowned, it meant that they were “incapacitated” before being tossed in the river.

Mr John said last week Tuesday: “If I was born three times again I wouldn’t accept that (the autopsy results). If it was in fact a drowning then it means that they were incapacitated prior to being thrown in the river. That’s what it would mean.”

Shortly after the men’s bodies were found, John’s mother Cathleen Rahming told The Tribune he was a strong swimmer and fit. Ramsey, a foreign service officer on study leave in Vienna, was reportedly in Turin on a break. He and his friend, John, were staying at a bed and breakfast establishment at Via la Loggia 2 in Turin.

John, a Saint Mary’s University graduate student, was there to attend a psychology conference.

Italian officials have reportedly ruled the deaths accidental, according to Italian media.