A 29-year-old fisherman died Tuesday morning during a fire in the hatch of a fishing boat, which was moored alongside the wharf of the Rosignol Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (RFCS) at Rosignol, West Bank Berbice.

Reports stated that Rahim Ali of Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, apparently entered the fishing boat sometime during late Monday night through a hole in the hatch, since he had been out with friends earlier in the evening. Investigators were said to have found signs that the fire may have started on a gas stove in the vessel.

The debris suggested that the man may have started to prepare a meal and then fell asleep. Guards at the Coop- society compound saw signs of fire on the boat around 02:00hrs, formed a bucket brigade and eventually extinguished the blaze. They then broke into the hatch and saw the charred remains of the fisherman inside. Owner of the fishing vessel, Mr Abdul Subhan, said that the young man was part of the crew. “The boat was due to go to fishing grounds yesterday, so he apparently got into the boat intending to spend the night.”

He stated that the man may have bypassed the guards at the gate by using a side entrance into the compound, since they would have stopped him and turned him back from entering the compound so late at night. “He may have been trapped in the hatch, since the hatch was locked and the hole through which he had forcefully entered may have been too small for him to exit,” he surmised.

The boat was damaged and extensive works would have to be done to make it seaworthy, Mr Subhan said. Coworkers said that the dead man had been a very good fisherman and a very friendly and pleasant person. “This was a real shocker,” one fisherman said. “We gonna miss him,” another one said. Ali leaves to mourn his father Safdar Alli, two siblings and a son. The body is being kept in a funeral home pending a post-mortem. Firemen visited the scene and carried out investigations early yesterday. Police were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death up to late yesterday.