Police, maritime officials continue search for missing duo in Mazaruni River mishap

Jul 16, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News – Guyana Police Force ranks and maritime officials from Division #7 continued their search on Monday for the two men who went missing after a boat accident in the Mazaruni River on Friday, July 5, according to a Guyana Police Force press release.

The accident claimed the life of 29-year-old Oswald Hudson Jr., who managed to save two minors before he drowned, while six injured victims were rushed to the Bartica Hospital for evaluation and treatment. He went under the surface of the water shortly after his heroic effort and was not seen again until a search party found his body floating at 17:30hrs the next day. The only victims of the tragedy who are still unaccounted for are Cranston Davidson, 43, and Troy Joseph, 35. The pair went to collect their wages from their place of employment, EKAA HRIM Earth Resources Management Quarry on Batavia Island and was returning home, according to a relative, when tragedy struck.

Monday marked 10 days since the men had been missing and search efforts from relatives, as well as police and maritime officials have been to no avail at this point. In an interview with this publication on Monday, Commander of Regional Police Division #7, Senior Superintendent Dion Moore, informed that no bodies had been found, but that information was received that could possibly help the search along. “We received some information that someone saw something. We are acting upon it, if it proves that it’s a body, then we will retrieve the body; but every bit of information we receive or every indication, we will act upon it to ensure that these men are found and the proper action is going to be taken,” Moore said.

In a statement posted on Facebook last Tuesday, Vivian Licorish, the foster father of Cranston Davidson and the father-in-law of Troy Joseph, said the relatives of the missing men had been conducting a search party for them every day and night. He also expressed that they not only were unable to find their relatives, they also did not receive any assistance from the police or maritime officials. “This incident happened about 10:30, 11 o’ clock Friday night, today is the fourth day. [We were] in the river looking Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday, Monday night, and this morning, they gone back looking again, with no help from any police or whoever, no official, none whatsoever,” Licorish explained. “Up to now, no sign [of life], no anything, no officials ain’t coming and ask or giving no help or whatever, nobody!” he said.

The relative of the victims continued, “The police and the maritime have to do their work, they have to do what they supposed to do because we need justice.” When asked about this, Commander Moore said that he was not aware of the video, but was positive that a police-led search party met the relatives of Davidson and Joseph while they were conducting their own search.

Moore said, “I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to but I do know that the afternoon of last Wednesday, police met them—they had about three or four teams who were searching and the police met with them in the river whilst they were searching and the police were searching along with the River Navigation Officer, Mr. Melville.”

Deighton Melville, Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) River Navigation Officer expressed that a mechanical issue with the boat meant that the officials were unable to participate in the search for some time. “We were present with the police there, but the engine foot that we had was down. We had to wait, fix it, and then we come but other than that, all the time, we’re in and out,” he said. He continued, “The police in the river steady, and sometimes, I be with them. Sometimes, we go all that side, we go down the river by Karrau, we go Cow Island, come up back. Where the thing happened is… Itaballi side by John Island, this side we deh, right now we’re drifting in the river, we still looking.”

It is important to note that the police and maritime officials did recover the body of Hudson Jr. the day after the incident. “We are doing everything we can to ensure that we retrieve the bodies once they are afloat, and we are in contact with the other entities to see what support we can get as well. However, we can only find them if they’re up on the surface. We will not give up until we find the bodies,” said Commander Moore.

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• boat accident, maritime, Mazaruni, police, relatives

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