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Bodies of two Cuyuni River victims found

May 27, 2013 News

 

 

The bodies of two men, who were among four feared drowned in Saturday’s boat mishap in the Cuyuni River, were recovered late yesterday evening after army and maritime personnel intensified the search for the missing passengers.
The victims were identified as Junior Bandhu 35, of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo and William Patwa of New Amsterdam, Berbice.
Kaieteur News was told that the bodies were found a few miles from the area where the accident occurred, after additional search teams were deployed to find the four missing passengers.  However, sources confirmed that the bodies of Shawn Robinson and Clive Welcome are yet to be found.
A source later told this newspaper that some conflict arose after the bodies were not placed in the Bartica Hospital Mortuary.
“The head nurse and doctors of the hospital are refusing to take the bodies into the mortuary and I can’t understand why this is so, because they have not decayed….we don’t have any other suitable place to lodge the bodies at this time,” the source said.
This newspaper was told that a crowd converged at the scene after news spread, with some pleading with hospital authorities to allow the admittance of the bodies into the morgue.
Four men went missing last Saturday, after a transport vessel navigating the Cuyuni rapids capsized.
The vessel was transporting Maurice Hopkinson of Second Avenue, Bartica; Junior Lyte, 19, of Batavia, Cuyuni; William Patwa, along with Junior Bandhu, 35, of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo; Shawn Robinson, Clive Welcome, 19 years, of First Avenue, Bartica and David Prass, 26, of New Amsterdam, Berbice.
The vessel which was reportedly owned by Severn Williams was captained by Junior Lyte at the time of the accident. He was taken into police custody.
The mishap reportedly occurred after the engine failed in the vicinity of the Matuk Falls, Cuyuni, at around 10:30 hours, Saturday.  Passengers of a passing boat assisted in rescuing Lyte, Prass and Hopkinson, who were attempting to swim ashore.
Neighbourhood search teams joined forces with the Maritime Administration and the Guyana Defence Force, (GDF) to continue the search for other persons. That search resulted in the recovery of the two bodies yesterday.
Efforts made to locate relatives of the dead men proved futile. Police and Maritime workers are currently conducting investigations.
Meanwhile, relatives of survivors related that they are “still shaken up” by the experience.
When contacted via telephone yesterday the wife of Maurice Hopkinson said that her husband is still traumatised by the entire ordeal.
The woman, Angela Hopkinson told this newspaper that when the mishap occurred, her husband, the proprietor of Hopkinson Mines located at Aranka, was heading out of the area, aboard a vessel with six other passengers.
“The boat engine cut out and they begin to drift. The boat hit a rock or something and it topple over the falls…. My husband is still disturbed by the incident … he can’t talk right now … he just trying to forget the whole thing”

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