Two persons are now missing and feared drowned after a small tug in which they were travelling capsized on Friday night as they were heading into the Canje Creek.
Up to late yesterday afternoon searches were continuing for Richard John, 39, of Edinburgh Village, East Bank Berbice, and his girlfriend, Shellon Williamson, 27, of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, who went missing after the capsizing.
The mishap occurred 20:49 hrs on Friday.
According to information gathered by this newspaper, the couple and two of John’s brothers were heading into the Canje Creek when a short distance away from the Canje Bridge they discovered that the tug was leaking.
The tug eventually capsized and submerged, leaving the two missing persons trapped in the lower part.
Dennis John, the captain of the small tug, yesterday told Sunday Stabroek that he was cooking when Williamson informed them that water was coming into the tug through a “big hole” in the lower part where she was resting at the time.
He said they all rushed to the bow of the boat where she was and they then discovered that the water was already knee high. According to him, they quickly attempted to bail the tug but it soon began to list due to the accumulation of water.
It was at that point that the boat captain and his now missing brother began to climb up since the water was getting to be rough. However, he said, while he made it to the upper part of the vessel where his other brother was, his now missing brother did not.
In an effort to rescue both his brother and Williamson he said he dived back into the lower part of the tug but he found that a mattress was lodged in the door. He managed to remove it but the door was soon jammed with another item, John said that at this point he had to swim up for air and was unable to offer any more assistance to the couple.
A sister of the three men, Christina John, explained that after the family was informed of the incident on Friday evening they took speed boats and headed to the location, where the two brothers were rescued.
However, according to her although the tug was pulled up they did not see the bodies of her missing brother and his girlfriend.
Meanwhile, Williamson’s sister yesterday told this publication that they had not received any additional information as searches were still ongoing for her missing sister. The missing woman is a mother of four.
