Latest update March 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 28, 2008 News
The body of the last known missing person from the ill-fated passenger boat which sank in the Corentyne River last Friday has been recovered.
Kaieteur News understands that the body of Henry Gonsalves was recovered at around 21:00 hours on Sunday night at the Number 67 Village Foreshore, Corentyne.
A source in the area said that fishermen had spotted the body as early as 16:30 hours and eventually brought it to land.
There was some hope that Gonsalves would have been found alive, following reports by his sister Sherry Ann Haynes, who survived the ordeal, that he may have been stranded on a sand bank.
There were also reports that he may have been rescued by a Surinamese vessel and taken to the neighbouring Dutch republic.
Following her rescue early Sunday morning, after 36 hours of floating on the water, Haynes had reportedly told relatives that she and her brother had been marooned on a sand bank.
However, she had lost consciousness, and when she awoke he was nowhere around, since the water had already covered the sand bank.
So badly decomposed was Henry Gonsalves’s body that it was immediately interred in the Springlands Cemetery.
Meanwhile, Roy Ramdass, who is survived by his children: 24-year-old Ravi; Devi, 22; Ryan,15; and Lata Devi, 11, was also buried yesterday at the Number 78 Village Cemetery.
Ramdass was the captain of Ms Sevi 2, which was transporting passengers along the Corentyne River on Friday, October 24, 2008 at about 16:45 hours, when it capsized.
The vessel was travelling from Suriname to Guyana with eight persons on board.
The actual number of persons who were on board the vessel is not clear, as some reports suggest that there could have been as many as ten passengers.
But, according to a source in Berbice, two persons had disembarked from the ill-fated boat and had joined another shortly before it departed Nickerie for Springlands.
Four bodies were recovered on Saturday in the vicinity of the Number Sixty-Three and Number Sixty-Nine Foreshores and in the vicinity of Scottsburg.
The bodies recovered that day were identified as overseas-based Sheila Gonsalves, 64; Indranie Motieram, 48, of Crabwood Creek, Corentyne; overseas-based Ena Hope, 31; and 45-year-old Drupatie Bahagiloo, called Nalini Ganpat, of Hampshire, Corentyne.
Leslie Owen Austin, 24, of Number Seventy-Eight Village, had managed to swim ashore at the Number Sixty-Three Foreshore. It was he who had reported the matter.
Ms. Sevi 2 was found upturned and drifting on Saturday, with the seine attached on the propeller.
Meanwhile, both the Guyana Defence Force and the Police Coast Guard units were involved in the search for the hapless passengers shortly after the mishap was reported.
According to Lt. Col. Windee Algernon of the GDF, the army coast guard had assisted in the rescue of Sherry Ann Haynes on Sunday.
And Deputy Commander of the Police Berbice Division, Superintendent Simon McBean, told this newspaper that the police vessel had been combing the area from Number 43 Village to Number 67 Village for possible survivors as soon as the sinking was reported.
Residents who frequently travel to Suriname said that there should be some regulation regarding the use of the river by both fishermen and passenger boat operators.
“Everybody got to make money, both fishermen and boat men. Leave a certain channel for the boat men, because they are paying for licence, too,” a resident said.
He suggested that the authorities should demarcate a clear channel for the boat operators, and should prosecute fishermen who violate the demarcation.
Listen to the man that is throwing Guyanese bright future away
Mar 19, 2024
Kaieteur Sports – The Dennis DeoRoop-trained horse, Stolen Money, dominated the field to claim victory in the feature event at the Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club, Bush Lot East Berbice on...Kaieteur News – The government has embarked on an ambitious infrastructure development spree. It has initiated major... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – In 2024, a series of general elections in Latin American countries, including... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]