Search teams yesterday recovered the bodies of two of three persons who went missing in the waters off the Mayaro Beach, in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday.
According to reports from the Trinidad Express, the body of Manindra Deonarine and one of two missing Guyanese boys were found sometime yesterday morning. The boys, 17-year-old twins Rickey and Ryan Lall, were originally reported as being 20-years-old.
The authorities on the island are working to identify the remains recovered yesterday while efforts continued to locate the missing boy. The twin brothers and other siblings were at the popular beach around on Sunday afternoon when tragedy struck.
Relatives of the Lall brothers were not forthcoming about the incident when approached at their grandmother’s home, at Block 11, Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara (ECD) yesterday. However, an older brother told Stabroek News that the lads were working on the island and that they attended a private school there. He also said that the boys attended school here “recently.”
Other persons in the community offered words of sympathy when questioned about the boys yesterday. A neighbour described them as “quiet” and noted that they were “talented cricketers.” He said that they last attended the secondary top of the Enterprise Primary School before migrating with their mother and step-father to Trinidad about two years ago.
At the Lot 204, Section B, Non Pareil address which the boys’ relatives provided to the authorities in Trinidad, housewife Bibi Samaroo noted that the duo lived there when they were children. She explained that three of her children share the same father as the boys and according to her they all live together in Princes Town, in Trinidad.
She said that her son Kevin Baldee, 18, was also swept under huge waves along with the brothers and Deonarine on Sunday afternoon but he was subsequently rescued by the lifeguards. She said that she was only made aware of the incident on Monday.
Samaroo stated that the family was in contact with her most of the past two days. She noted that “it sad how them two boys meet dem end.”
She said that the boys lived with her for a few months and attended school in the area along with her children. Their father subsequently left for Trinidad and the boys moved in with their grandmother at Block 11, Non Pareil. “Dem had life hard for a good while and then dem mother take them Trinidad about two years back,” she said, while adding that they worked with Baldee, who was their supervisor, at a local supermarket at Princes Town.
Around 5:30 pm on Sunday, the brothers and Deonarine were part of an excursion at the beach at Mayaro. They were bathing in waist-high water and they got into difficulties and began drifting further into the water. They called out for help.
According to the Express, the three young men were among some 20 men who had gone to the beach to have some fun. Their friends attempted to save them but their attempts were futile. The Trinidadian Coast Guard was called in and efforts to locate the missing continued into the night.
A report was made to the Mayaro Police Station and a party of police officers responded. The Coast Guard and Lifeguard Base were informed with the view to assisting in the search of the area.
