Deadly high seas attack…Families despair as two more bodies recovered

May 05, 2018 News

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Two more bodies have been recovered by Suriname authorities from Friday’s shocking pirate attack on four vessels, as the search continues for the missing and anxious relatives from Guyana await news.
However, the relatives may have to wait for some time as the decomposed state of the three bodies has forced Suriname police to ask for DNA tests. The tests will allow for family members to lay claim to the bodies.
It is unclear how long loved ones will have to wait for the remains.
The news would come as officials in Suriname have suspended operations of the fishermen in the Dutch-speaking neighbouring country.
With mainly Guyanese

operating in Suriname, the impact is expected to affect fish supply and worry fishermen and their families.
The suspension would come from fears that a band of pirate who are being hunted may still be lurking.
It is expected that fish price in Suriname will rise in the coming days, having ripple effects in Guyana.
On Thursday, Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse said that he, together with the Ministers of Justice and Police and Defence, who had also travelled with him, was constantly on the case from Brazil, where he was visiting.
He said that engagements are ongoing with the Guyana government and authorities. “It is a very sad thing, as the government…we will do everything we can to turn all stones over so that we get the right information and inform the community about what is going on.”
The Head of State stated that so far it seems that there is more to it than just piracy.
“It seems like there is more going on and possibly involves retaliation of

things that have probably gone wrong.”
With regard to the bodies recovered, the De Ware Tijd newspaper of Suriname disclosed that the remains have been seized by the police and taken to the morgue.
The two bodies were among three spotted in the Wia Wia Bank, where the attack took place last Friday. However, because of unsafe conditions, only one was recovered. The Coast Guard and others went back to retrieve the bodies which were snagged on bushes on the coastline.
The attack was said to have occurred about 40 miles from Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname.
Yesterday, news reports said that police in Suriname were looking for families so that a list of the missing men can be compiled.
These include names, birth dates and ID numbers or passport numbers.
The police urged family members to report to its Department of Capital Crimes.
On Friday last week, four boats filled with 19 Guyanese and one Surinamese came under attack by a rampaging gang who chopped crewmembers and dumped them overboard.
A few of the crewmembers had batteries tied to their legs before they were thrown overboard.
Four men, including a captain were later rescued. It was clear from testimonies and police report that the pirates came to kill.
Another Guyanese made it to shore Wednesday after walking in the swamps for days.
That means that the search is one for 12 persons.
On Thursday, President David Granger described the attack as a massacre and announced that mourning will be observed in Guyana.
Two men, including a Corentyne man who is a brother of fisherman in Suriname gunned down late March, were arrested in Guyana in relation to the incident.
In Suriname, seven men were arrested Thursday with a number of them released yesterday. They are all fishermen- Guyanese who are living between Guyana and Suriname.
Authorities are working on the theory that the attack stemmed from the killing of Somnath Manohar in Suriname. He and an employee were shot when gunmen sprayed the property he was at. He died.
Authorities in Suriname and Guyana are trying to determine whether his brother, Nakool Manohar, planned the attack in retaliation. He was arrested at his Corentyne home on Thursday.
His family is protesting his innocence.
It is believed that the fishermen, mostly Guyanese who are using fishing licences of Suriname to operate, in waters there, have been feuding a while over fishing ground and other rights.
The fishermen who are missing are from the East Coast of Demerara and from Berbice.
Yesterday, Guyana’s ambassador to Suriname, Keith George, said that from his information only three bodies have been recovered because of rough waters.
The search is continuing with authorities in Suriname talking to their counterparts in Guyana. He noted that identification is proving a problem because of the state of decomposition of the remains.
The police, he said, is moving to conduct DNA tests to determine next of kin with post mortem to be also be conducted to determine the cause of death.
The ambassador also disclosed he met with Sherwyn Lovell yesterday. Lovell is the survivor who surfaced Thursday after making it to shore and crawling in the swamps for days.
What is compounding the situation is the identification of the missing. Many of the fishermen have no records and or even passports. They have call names.
So authorities have the double trouble of determining whether the missing men are Guyanese or from Suriname. This would also lead to problems of alerting family members, George had said Thursday.
Among those missing are Bharrat Heralall, Gavin Outar, Ralph ‘Burnham’ Couchman, Dinesh ‘Vicky’ Persaud, Joshua Glenroy Jones, Tilaknauth Mohabir, Rajkumar Bissessar, Ramesh Sancharra and Ganesh Beharry.

 

 

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