River ambulance captain dead, pregnant nurse loses baby in Orealla River Ambulance accident
Glen DeVair, called “Shiko”
A boat captain is now dead while a pregnant nurse lost her unborn child and is now hospitalised, after a tragic accident in the Corentyne River involving the Orealla/Siparuta River Ambulance.
Dead is 65-year-old Glen DeVair called ‘Shiko’ of Orealla Village, a former Toshao who worked as an ambulance captain employed by the Health Ministry.
The injured woman has been identified as 29-year-old Shunika Williams, a nurse at the Orealla Health Centre. Williams, who was three months pregnant, has since lost the baby.
The incident occurred sometime between 05:00hrs and 06:30hrs on Saturday, about a ten-minute ride from Orealla at Globe Tex.
DeVair who served as the previous Toshao of the village, captained the ambulance from Orealla Health centre, escorting a patient and the nurse to the Skeldon Hospital in Corriverton, Berbice.
The captain and the nurse were returning to the village when the boat reportedly hit a tree at about 05:00h.
The nurse being attended to in the river ambulance after it was located
Hours after the river ambulance failed to return to the village, a search party was dispatched, and the vessel was later found stuck between some trees on the left bank of the Corentyne River.
The Corentyne River is the border between Guyana and Suriname. The boat was discovered on the Guyana side of the river.
The nurse who was found in an unconscious state was taken to the Skeldon Hospital, where she was treated and subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital. Her condition is considered stable.
During the past week, DeVair reportedly fell ill and was treated at the Health Centre where he reportedly received medication. He received a call shortly after 22:00h on Friday requesting him to take a patient out to the coastland with the river ambulance.
He claimed that it was impossible for him to do that since he had used meditation and was feeling dizzy. In fact, he reportedly said that he was asleep when the phone call came in and suggested that the assistant boat captain make the journey.
However, DeVair was reportedly told that the assistant was under the influence of alcohol and so the former Toshao decided to make the trip.
The boat left Orealla at about midnight for Corriverton and reportedly departed Corriverton just before daylight.
The tree the river ambulance crashed into. The tide was high when the incident occurred
The nurse said she was asleep and did not know what happened. She said she was feeling sleepy and decided to lie down on one of the seats.
Reports are that when the boat was discovered, the steering wheel was disconnected, with all of the wires severed.
Several boat operators reportedly passed the river ambulance in the corner of river, one being DeVair’s son. He said he pulled over and called out but got no response and was of the opinion that his father had taken another boat to go home.
However, when he arrived at Corriverton more than an hour later, he called home to find out if his father was there and was told that he did not arrive. It was then that he reported witnessing the ambulance among a clump of bushes about 10 minutes away from Orealla.
It took rescuers about two hours before they could organise a team to go to the scene.
DeVair was found in the back of the boat lying on the floor and appeared to have been burnt by gasoline which was pouring out and had covered a section of the floor where he was.
Police are continuing their investigations.
