TWO-year-old Melissa Benjamin of Grant Kitty, Lower Pomeroon yesterday drowned in a trench near the Pomeroon River, while bathing with her four-year-old sister, Radina Prince, and a 14-year-old cousin. Reports said the toddler apparently fell into the water and disappeared under. An alarm was raised by her sister and cousin, and several neighbours immediately conducted a search in the water for her.

She was found fifteen minutes later and rushed to the Oscar Joseph District Hospital at Charity but was pronounced dead on arrival there.

Her parents, Ronald Benjamin and Patricia Prince are grieving over the tragic loss of their little girl, just a few days before Easter.  They were planning to buy little Melissa a kite for her to fly on Easter Monday, but now, that plan has been shattered.
A post mortem examination is likely to be performed. (Rajendra Prabhulall)