Body of soldier missing in boat mishap recovered
The body of Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Ordinary Rating, Junior Kenroy Sooklall, who went missing after a boat mishap, was found yesterday at the mouth of the Essequibo River.
A release from the GDF said that the body was spotted by fishermen at about 7 am. The police were notified and the body has been positively identified.
The GDF said that Sooklall was a passenger on a private vessel on Friday when it encountered difficulties in the Essequibo River and overturned. Sooklall resided at Bark Lane, Hopetown Village, West Coast Berbice.
The GDF said that the investigation to ascertain the circumstances around the incident continues.
The mishap occurred around 4.45 pm on Friday in the vicinity of St. Lawrence, East Bank Essequibo River.
At the time, Sooklall and five others were heading to Parika 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, 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, 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.