Farmer feared drowned after GDF vessel collides with boat in Pomeroon River

A Pomeroon farmer is missing after a Coastguard vessel belonging to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) collided with the boat in which he was travelling on Monday evening.

Missing is 32-year-old Ryan Khayum of Pomeroon River, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

Based on reports received, the army vessel, bearing registration number GDFS HAWK, which had four ranks on board, was

returning from Charity to the Floating Base when it collided with the civilian boat carrying the now missing man, his wife, and two workers.

Following the collision, three of the civilians were rescued and taken to the Oscar Joseph District Hospital in Charity where they were treated, but Khayum was not found.
It is believed that the young farmer might have hit his head and sank under the water.
The ranks searched the area, which was dark, but there were no signs of the missing man.
Several residents and the GDF Coast Guards continued the search on Tuesday morning, but up to late Tuesday, the body had not been recovered. Attempts to get a comment from the missing man’s wife proved futile, since she remains in hospital.
Meanwhile, the GDF has launched a Board of Inquiry (BoI) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate accident.