UP to late Sunday afternoon, the bodies of boat captains Roy Roopnarine and Trevor Persaud had not been found, after both men, who hail from Itaballi in Region 7, some 15 minutes’ travel from Bartica, went missing when the boats they were captaining collided on Saturday at about 20:00hrs.Roopnarine was transporting three persons to Bartica from Itaballi when his boat collided with the one in which 27-year-old Persaud was travelling. Persaud has gone missing after the mishap. He and the captain of the boat, identified as ‘Thom’, were heading to Itaballi.
From the crack of dawn, a search team comprising ranks of the Guyana Police Force, three divers and scores of miners and boat operators spread out in the Essequibo River between Bartica and Itaballi in search of the missing men. Violet Ramraj, who has been living with Roopnarine for the past eight years, joined the team yesterday in search of her reputed husband. Ramraj, who had left their Itaballi home on Friday for Soesdyke, Region 4, said she had last spoken to the 46-year-old father of three at about 12:30hrs on Saturday.
“Meh 12-year-old daughter that he mine from small had school concert at Soesdyke; so when he call, he talk to all de children and he told me mek sure ah video her dancing, so he can see,” Ramraj said.
At about 20:30hrs on Saturday, Ramraj received the devastating phone call. “Somebody call me and seh two boats crash up and they ain’t finding meh husband and another man,” she recalled.
At the time, boat captain Roopnarine was transporting three businessmen to Bartica from Itaballi when the boats collided in the Essequibo River in the vicinity of 7th Avenue, Mazaruni. However, although the boats collided, they did not capsize.
“One of them tell me that after the impact, he (Roopnarine) fall out of the boat, and one of the businessmen run and slow down the engine, but another one drive it to de shore,” Ramraj said.
The men reportedly began shouting for help, and ranks of the Bartica Police Station were quickly called in. The area where the accident occurred was subsequently revisited, but there was no sign of the two men. “They search for about three hours, but they ain’t see nothing.”
Asked whether Roopnarine’s boat was equipped with lights, Ramraj responded in the positive, explaining that two sets of lights were installed on his boats in addition to the torch light he had in his hand at the time of the accident.
Meanwhile, Persaud’s family members were also in the area on Sunday, assisting with the search. His reputed wife of five years, Dacia Cornette, told Guyana Chronicle that he had left their Itaballi home at about 12:30hrs on Saturday after receiving a phone call that 15 passengers at Bartica needed to be transported to Supenaam, Region 2.
“He went Bartica, get a boat and carry de people to Supenaam. So is coming back he coming back from Bartica when the accident happen,” she said.
Persaud was on his way home, but his reputed wife explained that he was not driving at the time of the accident.
“He was going to drive back home, but another man call him and fuh go in he boat. So is just de two of them went in that boat. He call me about 6 o’clock and tell me he coming home,” she explained.
Since the accident occurred, Cornette has been seeking for information.
“Nobody ain’t telling me nothing! When I asked de boat captain, Thom, all he saying is the other driver bend down to fix some light; and that is when de accident happened,” she explained.
She was reportedly told the same story by the passengers of the other boat.
By Svetlana Marshall
