A miner is now missing after a boat occupied by six persons capsized on Saturday at Gatie Falls, Semang, Middle Mazaruni River after it hit a rock.
At the time of the incident, a passenger had filled in for the captain who had complained of a problem with his leg.
The missing miner has not been identified.
Commander for Regional Division seven, Senior Superintendent Dion Moore, said that about 8:30 am on Saturday, 41-year-old Garfield Benn, a boat captain of Tassarene, Issano, Middle Mazaruni River boarded his blue and white 75 horsepower wooden boat along with five occupants.
Two of the occupants have been identified as 43-year-old Griffith Joseph Fredericks and 47-year-old Kenneth Tancredo, both of Seventh Field, Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara. The names of the three other occupants including the missing miner are yet to be ascertained. Together they departed Long Island, Middle Mazaruni River en route to Semang Creek.
After stopping at Semang Landing, they continued their journey but sometime after, the boat captain began experiencing problems with his leg and gave one of the occupants of the boat, control of the engine.
At about 5pm, while navigating the boat in the vicinity of Gatie Falls, Semang Creek, the engine crashed into a rock resulting in the passengers being flung overboard. Everyone except for the missing miner resurfaced and swam to shore.
A search party was formed but the miner is still to be found.
