A Zeelugt, West Coast Demerara (WCD) fisherman who sustained burns after an unregistered trawler caught fire in Surinamese waters on Saturday night, succumbed to his injuries yesterday.
Stabroek News understands that Rameshdatt Narine, called “Bharrat”, said to be in his 40s, died yesterday in neighbouring Suriname while efforts continued to locate his missing colleague Ravi Shankar Ragoonauth, 39, of De Willem, WCD.
When contacted yesterday, Narine’s relatives offered no comment but relatives of the other crewmembers told Stabroek News that the man sustained burns to more than 90% of his body. The father of one died around 1 am yesterday. His relatives are making arrangements to return his body to Guyana for burial.
Narine reportedly had to jump through a wall of fire after the flames engulfed the vessel, the Captain Tan, which had been on the seas for some six months. He had reportedly gone to alert Ragoonauth, who was said to be in the engine room.
While the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture has stated that an investigation into the incident is unlikely given that the trawler was not registered as a fishing vessel, the relatives of the crewmembers informed that the incident may have occurred within Guyana’s waters, several miles off the Corentyne Coast. The trawler’s location at the time of the fire was being verified yesterday.
The owner and captain of the vessel as well as Coast Guard officials from the neighbouring state went out to sea yesterday in search of the missing fisherman.
A third crewmember, Abdool Sharif Khan, remained hospitalised yesterday with minor burns. His wife, Maureen Khan, expressed hope that he would return home soon. In between sobs, the woman said that she last spoke to her husband on Sunday night but he was not saying much, only that he was ok.
The boat departed these shores two Sundays ago and Ragoonauth’s father told Stabroek News on Monday that the incident occurred around 10 pm on Saturday. He said he subsequently contacted the owner of the vessel, who told him conflicting stories. One version was that the men jumped off the vessel together after it was engulfed in flames while another stated that the Ragoonauth was in the engine room when the fire started. He has been a fisherman for about 23 years.
Nearby fishermen picked up Narine and Khan while another vessel picked up Captain Ramlall Ramjattan and the men were taken to the Suriname mainland, where Narine and Khan were taken to a hospital.
On June 19, a fishing trawler, Captain Lloyd 95, belonging to Pritipaul Singh Investment exploded off the Waini coast and was substantially damaged. The captain, Delbert Williams, remains missing. Injured in that explosion were Orlon Munroe, 19; Leslie Adams, 22, of Virginia Village, Cane Grove, Mahaica; George Fitzpatrick, 40 of West Ruimveldt.
Investigations continue into that incident, which is being undertaken by several agencies, including the Ministry of Public Works and Communication. The Ministry is tasked with ensuring the seaworthiness of all vessels through its Maritime Administration.
