12 fishermen still missing

Three bodies suspected to be those of fishermen missing following a horrific piracy attack were spotted at various locations in Surinamese waters and one survivor reached the shore last week. This means that 12 fishermen are still missing. Initial reports indicated that 4 fishermen had survived the April 27 pirate attack on 4 fishing boats and 20 fishermen. Other fishermen and the authorities hope that more survivors will be found. Jerry Slijngard, coordinator at the National Coordination Center for Disaster Control (NCCR), pointed out that the National Army deployed 2 helicopters near Albina to search for survivors. “Given the fact that we found a survivor at Braamspunt on Thursday, we do not rule out the possibility that more fishermen have survived the pirate attack,” said Slijngard who added that the search is taking place under very difficult circumstances because the attack took place near a mud bank. Members of the Coast Guard can’t steer their boats near the mud bank when the tide is low. It took the teams 2 days to recover 3 bodies that had been spotted. As the search for survivors was being carried out another pirate attack on a fishing boat was reported on Wednesday. Reports indicate that the crew was attacked and robbed and that the captain was killed. Willem Mohamedhusain, chairman of the Fishermen’s Association, reported that 4 fishermen who had survived Wednesday’s attack returned to the harbor on Friday. The survivors claim that the captain was kidnapped by the pirates. “People are telling stories which suggest that there is a feud among the fishermen but I do not believe that. People are telling those stories to give fishermen a bad name. If it was in fact a feud between the fishermen, the attackers would not have taken their catch and outboard motor,” said Mohamedhusain.