A search is now underway for three Corentyne, Ber-bice fishermen after a fellow crewmember was found dead and their unmanned boat, with evidence of blood, was recovered aback Cromarty Village, Corentyne, on Friday.
The missing men are boat captain Vishnu Seeram, also known as ‘Kevin,’ 20, of Port Mou-rant, Corentyne; Marvin Tamasar, 20, of Lot 305 Port Mourant, Corentyne and Lamar Petrie, 20, of Lot 9 Miss Phoebe, Port Mourant.
Another member of their, Kawal Kissoon, also known as ‘Ajai,’ 36, of Lot 233 Letter Kenny, Coren-tyne, was discovered dead on Friday morning on the foreshore of the Abary River. He remained unidentified until yesterday evening, when he was identified by his wife.
Sunday Stabroek was told that another body was spotted along the Number 63 Corentyne foreshore yesterday.
Shamwattie Inderjeet, 41, who is the mother of the captain, said last evening that her family was contacted about the man’s body being found. ‘We get a strange call that Kevin body was there but the people frighten fa trouble it and betime them go with police the body gone but me family them deh deh a search still,” the woman said.
However, Region Six Commander Calvin Brutus last evening said that it was yet to be confirmed whether a body was found.
Seeram’s sister, Keisha Seeram explained that her brother and his crew left on the morning of Saturday, October 5th, to head out to sea
through the Number 65 Village, Corentyne, outfall and they were expected to return some 14 days later.
However, on Friday evening, they were informed by the police that the boat her brother and his crew supposedly left with was found aback of Cromarty Village with what appeared to be blood. “Them [police] come tell abie that the boat get hijack but them na find anybody inside,” she said.
According to fishermen from the area, the boat was spotted floating in the water since Monday. However, they did not pay much heed to it until they heard that the men were missing.
The boat, SARA 1, is presently docked along the Wellington Park foreshore. It reportedly belongs to a businessman from Skeldon.
According to Seeram, her brother went out to sea previously with another boat belonging to the same person, however, “he get bruk trip and he come back and mommy tell am stay home, abie go pay out the money and he say no, that he go go back and he na get none work man and he look all over and one boy come the morning when he been a go give up the boat and then he go find somebody from Bush Lot and them gone.”
She added, “First he go out and the boat leak and he come in back and then the man give he another boat and then he get bruk trip and he come in back and then the man give he this boat.”
However, Tamasar’s mother, Sanita Rawan, 47, who was barely able to control her emotions yesterday, said the police contacted her family on Friday night asked whether they had heard anything before telling them that the boat had been found and he was missing.
She said her husband and relatives of the other missing fishermen went to see the
boat and they noticed that some seines were covered with blood along with items belonging to the missing men. They said an untouched food supply was also spotted.
According to the mother, the boat owner had visited with the police on Friday night and told her that the boat’s engine was missing and some seines. “Me glad if them can find, me glad”, she said as she broke into tears yesterday.
Petrie’s mother, Onika Simon, was also emotional but she stressed that she is still hopeful that her son will be found alive and well.
Meanwhile, Kissoon’s younger sister, Sadna Kissoon, 21, yesterday noted that her family was told by police at the Whim Police Station “that them get one patrol out there a look.”
As a result, the relatives of the fishermen are calling on the authorities to commit more persons to expand the search in hopes of finding their loved ones.
In addition, this newspaper was told that Berbice’s lawmen were in contact with the authorities in Suriname as part of their efforts to ascertain what might have transpired.
