– boat with over 4000 crabs, clothes & other items found
The hunt is on for four young Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) men reportedly missing in neighbouring Suriname after leaving home more than a week ago on a crab-catching expedition.
The missing men have been identified as: Yogeshwar Mangal, also called “Bouyo”, of Number Two Village, East Canje; Nelson Dejonge, 22, of Fort Ordinance Housing Scheme; Ramdat Goonraj, 23, also called “Azad”, of Rose Hall Town, and Anand Deoharry of Cumberland, East Canje.
Guyana Times understands that the men’s boat with their belongings was found washed up on a remote beach in Nickerie, Suriname on Saturday.
The men reportedly left home on December 1, 2019 for Nickerie and were expected back the following day.
After not hearing from the crab catchers for more than one week, family members formed a search party and went to the Dutch-speaking country in search of the missing men.
This newspaper was told that a five-member search party went across the Corentyne River in a small boat and was able to locate the crab catchers’ boat that was found abandoned along with the engine, gasoline, and the catch of thousands of crabs.
According to Milton Persaud, a relative of one of the missing men, at the time of the discovery of the boat, it was stuck on the bank of a river. Persaud could not name the river, but said from all indications, the missing men had removed their clothes and might have left on foot to get help.
“When we see the boat, we feel nice that we find them and we say that we gon anchor the boat and bring them over and then go back for the crab; but when we reach the boat – nobody inside,” he explained.
Initial investigations seem to suggest that the boat might have got grounded on the river bank as a result of the tide, so the crab catchers probably abandoned it and went inland.
This publication was told, however, that it could take the men days before they find any residential area.
“We don’t know how near people living, but we just suggesting that it might take them two days to meet people and that is if they don’t get lost … If they had walked on the beach, we would have seen them,” Persaud related.
Relatives believe that the young men only left to get help on Saturday.
According to Persaud, this is based on the fact that many dead crabs were seen around the boat.
“It look like they throw out all the dead crab Saturday and leave the rest there in the boat and then go away,” he said.
Persaud disclosed that the search party examined the area extensively, but found nothing other than evidence the four crab catchers and their “good clothes” were missing.
Meanwhile, the matter has been reported to the Police at Springlands.
However, Persaud has expressed concern that the Police seemed to be more interested in getting the height of the missing men rather than getting assistance to go in search of the crab catchers, who are out in the elements and at risk of becoming dehydrated.
