Police paid tribute yesterday to four who lost their lives 16 years ago when Hurricane Fabian struck the island. The annual commemoration took place at the Memorial Bench at Kindley Field Park, St George’s.

Police officers Stephen Symons and Nicole O’Connor, station duty officer Gladys Saunders and civilian Manuel Pacheco were swept off the Causeway in the midst of the storm on September 5, 2003 after their vehicles broke down.

A granite bench and monument in their memory stands by the shore of Ferry Reach, where officers and family members gathered to pay their respects.

Mr Pacheco, a worker for the Corporation of Hamilton, was on his way back from securing his boat in St David’s when his car stalled on the bridge.

BPS chaplain Kevin Santucci led the proceedings, which concluded with flowers being thrown into the ocean by those in attendance as a tribute.