-teen boy drowns, friends rescued

By Richard Bhainie

A SUNDAY fishing trip among three friends turned into one of a tragedy, when one of them drowned and two were rescued at the Windsor Forest foreshore, on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD). Dead is 17-year-old Surendra Singh of Line Top, Windsor Forest, WCD; his two friends, who managed to survive, are brothers – 16-year -old Mohammed Fiaz Edun and 17-year-old

Mohammed Saheer Edun, of Third Street, Windsor Forest. The Guyana Chronicle understands that the three friends left the house of the brothers to go fishing around 10:30 hours, while the tide was low but tragedy struck when the tide came in and the friends were too far out in the river to return to shore. The sister of Singh, Anna Maria Mohammed, told the Guyana Chronicle what had transpired.

“Normally he goes out [to] set line to catch fish, the water was not that high when they went out, but by time they could have come in back, the tide came in and he can’t swim,” the distraught sister explained. She said that from her understanding, one of the brothers was close to the shore and managed to make his way out of the river when he noticed his brother and Singh out in the deep, fighting to stay above the surface of the water. The young man then sounded an alarm to alert those nearby. Mohammed related that a guard at a school nearby heard the screaming and contacted her husband, who then contacted Mohammed.

She then informed her father, Dindiyal Singh, who visited the scene; he gathered some fishermen and located a boat to go out in the river to rescue the boys. Singh was able to rescue one of the brothers, however, he was unable to locate his son. Singh dived into the river in an attempt to locate his son but was unsuccessful. The mother of the brothers, Shiroon Inshanally, informed this publication that the boys often ask her for fishing equipment to go to the river, however, she would usually warn them to abstain from doing so. Up to press time, the family was desperately searching for Singh’s body while the brothers went home. The police subsequently took them into custody as the investigation continues.