Minster Of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan on Sunday morning met with relatives and survivors of the missing fishermen at the Guyana embassy in Henk Arronstraat, Paramaribo in Suriname.

At the same time , the two countries are working around the clock to ensure that those responsible for last weekend’s brutal piracy attack off the Suriname coast are caught and punished.

The minster , who travelled into Suriname in on the wee hours of Sunday morning, held a closed door meeting with the relatives and survivors of the attack as he had a “heart to heart” discussion where critical and sensitive information was shared with him and Guyana’s Ambassador to Suriname, Keith George.

Speaking with Guyana Chronicle after three hour -plus meeting,Ramjattan disclosed that he travelled with three senior officers of the Guyana Police Force who are working closely with their Surinamese counterparts to help capture and bring to justice the men who orchestrated the deadly attack.

Minster Ramjattan confirmed that as of Sunday morning, three additional  bodies were recovered and identified but the names have not yet been made public. He further revealed that there are five  survivors and the remaining 12 fishermen are presumed dead based on information from meeting.

“This whole episode is basically murder of the most gruesome circumstances,  where  pirate boats attacked four other innocent boats with 20 crew member in total. The pirate boat , the members therein believed that these boats had done something wrong to them and they went out there to do in the most brutal and horrific fashion the killing of all those members of those boats which total about 20. Thank God there were some survivors that managed to tell the tale,” the Public Security Minister said.

The minister said that the main reason he travelled to the neighboring country was to stand in solidarity with the family of those affected and to share information gathered with the security forces of the two countries to hopefully get swift justice for the family whom are distraught.

“What we did was to make sure as much family as possible came to the embassy here today so we can have a very direct chat with them and have I wanted a heart to heart as it also helps them in their moment of despair. They had a lot to tell me and I will be conveying this to the Minister of Justice and will be communicating through the Police men that I brought to the commissioner of police,” he said.

He further underscored the importance for collaboration due to the nature and magnitude of the crime.

The twelve fishermen who remain missing are: Vickey Persaud, Ramesh Sanchara, Glenroy Jones, Tikaknauth Mohabir, Bobby Ibrahim, Bharat Heralall, Ralph Anthony Couchman, Rajkumar Bissesar, Sunil called “Paddock” and Olenski Maxwell.

On Friday, the Suriname police invited relatives of the missing fishermen to visit the department Kapitale Delicten at Havenlaan Zuid Number1 and take along identification documents including ID cards and passports in a bid to ascertain the identities of the men.

President David Granger on Thursday called the incident a massacre and announced that a day of mourning will be formally observed for the men who were killed.