Two days after Tactical Services Unit (TSU) rank Akeem Hyles went missing in the Potaro River, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) after the boat he was travelling in capsized, his body is yet to be recovered.
Dead: Special Constable Akeem Hyles
Special Constable 14536 Hyles, 22, of New Amsterdam, Berbice, was in a boat with several other persons when the vessel capsized sometime around noon on Friday at Amatuk Falls area. His body was not recovered.
When contacted on Saturday, Commander of F Division (Interior locations), Rabindranauth Budhram related that the search was still on to locate the missing rank. He noted that a team of officers travelled to the area on Saturday morning and are expected to camp out there until the body surfaces.
“Some civilians and Police Officers are there camping out in the area where the accident occured… they have to wait until the body float up so they can retrieved it, so that’s what’s happening now,” he stated.
However, Commander Budhram noted that there is a possibility that the current of the water might have moved the body from the area. “We are not certain whether the body will remain there, sometimes with the current of the water, it might move and gone somewhere else so they have to traverse the river and see,” he noted.
Hyles was in the boat with other Police ranks, members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and representatives of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) on Friday heading to conduct raids on illegal mining camps in the area, when the boat came into contact with rough terrain and subsequently capsized.
According to the Police, Hyles had departed the Ogle International Airport on Friday morning along with the other members of the Joint Services, who were dispatched to assist the GGMC officials in dealing with illegal mining that was being carried out in the Kaieteur National Park area.
The Guyana Police Force extended sincere condolences to the parents, relatives and friends of Special Constable Akeem Hyles.
Meanwhile, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman in a subsequent statement expressed his condolences to the Force and the family of Hyles. Trotman said he is saddened by this unfortunate incident and his prayers are with the relatives of the missing rank.
