UP to late yesterday afternoon family members and other persons were searching for the body of miner Ivor Haynes who went down after aboat capsized in the Cuyuni River on Saturday afternoon at approximately 17.30hrs.

According to reports, the man who failed to save himself first was trying to hold on to a metal detector worth more than one million dollars which was being carried away by the current after the boat capsized.

A metal detector is used in prospecting for gold in mining areas.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle at the Bartica Police Station yesterday morning, captain of the ill-fated boat, Peter Pollard, explained that he along with his 16-year-old nephew and the now
missing man who was identified as a father of two were returning from the Arawak Creek when tragedy struck. He said that in addition to them, he was also carrying his father-in-law but took a decision to drop him off first since he had luggage with him.
According to Pollard, who this publication learnt was not licensed at the time to captain the boat, after he dropped off his father-in-law he returned to pick up his nephew and Haynes and while approaching the falls the lone engine on the boat failed and the vessel capsized in the rough waters.
As the boat capsized the 16-year-old nephew swam off to a rock where he sought refuge. After struggling for some time Pollard said that he too was able to hold on to one of the slippery rocks while Haynes chose to go after the metal detector
despite their calls to leave it alone and save himself.
However, the metal detector that the man was attempting to save as well as another one being carried by the captain were recovered later on.
Pollard recalled that after struggling in vain to recover the metal detector, Haynes called out to him saying that he “cannot make it” and immediately went down.
After remaining on the rocks from late Saturday afternoon to about midnight, the 16-year-old and the captain decided to swim from island to island for about three hours as they sought to get help.
They finally reached a location where they were able to secure the help of a man and together with a paddle boat they returned to the area in search of the missing man but came up empty handed.
It was then that they recovered the two metal detectors – one worth over one million dollars and the other just above a quarter million dollars.
The men then picked up the father-in-law who was earlier dropped off with his luggage and took him out of the area. The men again returned to the area to commence the massive search for the missing miner.
The man said that in his twenty=odd years of traversing the Cuyuni River this is the second time that he was involved in a mishap. He recalled that some four years ago he was transporting three Brazilian men when the boat he was piloting capsized but in that incident there were
no fatalities.
Yesterday morning the man was kept in police custody as the investigation into the incident continued.
The police also took statements from the teenager who was in the boat at the time of the accident.

By Leroy Smith