Two Brazilians are dead and another person is missing after a mining dredge capsized at Amatuk Falls on the Cuyuni River late Saturday.
The bodies of the Brazilian man and woman arrived at the Bartica Hospital at around 7 pm yesterday while the body of the third man is still to be found. The incident occurred sometime on Saturday evening, according to reports reaching Stabroek News. No names are yet available.
A Bartica resident told Stabroek News that her son was returning from the backdam and was passing Amatuk Falls at around 5:30pm on Saturday when he saw the dredge at the bottom of the falls. Stabroek News was told that the dredge is one of the bigger ones. The woman, whose son has since returned to the interior, said that today, they learnt that the dredge had capsized while attempting to “run” the Amatuk Falls.
She said that normally, the Amatuk Falls backchannel is used by vessels to pass the rapids, but the Brazilians did not do this.
According to the resident, they attempted to “run” directly up the falls and capsized. The trio was missing since then and today the bodies of the Brazilian man and woman were recovered while a third man remains missing.
Another resident said that the area is a “treacherous area”. The bodies arrived at the Bartica hospital at around 7 pm and were officially pronounced dead before being taken to the morgue. Police have journeyed to the area to investigate.
