A soldier is now missing and feared drowned following a boat mishap in the Essequibo River on Friday.
The missing man has been identified as Kenroy Sooklall, 24, of Hopetown, West Coast Berbice. He is a private in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and was stationed at the Coast Guard location at Fort Island, Essequibo.
The mishap occurred around 16.45 hrs in the vicinity of St. Lawrence, East Bank Essequibo River.
At the time, Sooklall and five others were heading to Parika from Essequibo in a private speed boat, which capsized after it was hit by a wave.
Five other occupants were rescued. They have been identified as Everette Tudor, 40, a Staff Sergeant of the GDF; Ramesh Beepat, 28, who was the captain of the ill-fated boat; Turendra Lochan, 28, a barber of Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo; and two teen boys, who are 14 and 16 years. Breathalyzer tests later confirmed that Tudor, who is the Base Commander for Fort Island, Lochan and Beepat were under the influence of alcohol at the time.
According to a police report, a team of eight soldiers were in the vicinity of St. Lawrence when they heard the shouts of persons in the river and observed that a boat was sinking.
The team was headed by Lance Corporal 25009 Darwyn Anderson.
“As the ranks quickly went to the direction of the persons, they observed four males in the water and two other males were in a green and black boat a few meters away,” the report said.
The ranks, police said, managed to rescue three persons from the water, while the fourth male disappeared in the water.
“They further rescued the two other men that were in the boat after which the boat went down in the river,” the report added.
The ranks then took the rescued party to Mangal’s Wharf, after which the police were alerted. The rescued persons were questioned and it was then discovered that the missing person was Sooklall.
The rescued persons were subsequently escorted to Parika Police Station, where the breathalyzer tests were conducted.
The police said that Beepat, upon further questioning, indicated that Sooklall and the others were traveling from Fort Island when the boat hit a wave and capsized.
The sunken boat, police said, was a 17-feet wooden vessel with a 150 HP Yamaha outboard engine that is unregistered.
In a statement yesterday, GDF said an investigation has been launched to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident. It added that a search and rescue team has since been dispatched to locate Sooklall. Up to yesterday afternoon, he was not found.
