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A POST-MORTEM, performed on the body of Coast Guard Darwin Simon yesterday, revealed that he died as a result of blunt trauma to the head and asphyxiation due to drowning. The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) said, in a statement yesterday as investigations continued, closed circuit television (CCTV) footage showed that, around midnight on Sunday, a boat with some ranks was returning to the floating base.
The army added that, while he was disembarking, the head-dress of ordinary rank Simon fell into the river. He went into a nearby boat, took off his boots, took something out of his pocket and plunged into the water to retrieve his head-dress.
The statement said Simon encountered difficulties and another rank dived into the river in an effort to offer assistance but Simon slipped under the water before the other rank reached him.
The footage of the incident was shown to the family of the deceased yesterday, the Army said.
Major Lorraine Foster, who heads the G5 Branch at Base Camp Ayanganna, told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that the Army retrieved the CCTV footage from the floating base in the Pomeroon River and invited the family members of the Coast Guard rank to view it, in an effort to dispel any misunderstanding and rumours surrounding the circumstances that led to his demise.
Simon, who went missing around midnight on Sunday, was taken out of the Pomeroon River on Tuesday around 10:30 hrs, some 50 metres from the floating base and flown to Georgetown, where the post-mortem was done at 09:30 hrs yesterday.
Simon, 22, of Lot 47 Norton Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, had been in the army for two years.
The army added that, while he was disembarking, the head-dress of ordinary rank Simon fell into the river. He went into a nearby boat, took off his boots, took something out of his pocket and plunged into the water to retrieve his head-dress.
The statement said Simon encountered difficulties and another rank dived into the river in an effort to offer assistance but Simon slipped under the water before the other rank reached him.
The footage of the incident was shown to the family of the deceased yesterday, the Army said.
Major Lorraine Foster, who heads the G5 Branch at Base Camp Ayanganna, told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that the Army retrieved the CCTV footage from the floating base in the Pomeroon River and invited the family members of the Coast Guard rank to view it, in an effort to dispel any misunderstanding and rumours surrounding the circumstances that led to his demise.
Simon, who went missing around midnight on Sunday, was taken out of the Pomeroon River on Tuesday around 10:30 hrs, some 50 metres from the floating base and flown to Georgetown, where the post-mortem was done at 09:30 hrs yesterday.
Simon, 22, of Lot 47 Norton Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, had been in the army for two years.
