Teen feared dead after disappearing in Corentyne River

A teenager is feared dead after he reportedly disappeared into the murky water of the Corentyne River during an outing with friends on Monday at the No 60 Foreshore, Berbice. The missing teen has been identified as Ritesh Balram, also known as “White Bai”, a former student of Tagore Memorial High School. Based on reports received, the teen, who could not swim, allegedly went to the No 60 Foreshore with three friends. However, while there, he reportedly went into the water, but due to the current, he was pulled further into the river. He reportedly shouted for assistance while holding onto a piece of lumber.

As his friends went for assistance, the youth disappeared and has yet to be found. The teen lived with his father after his parents separated. His mother, Gayatree Rambhajan, said she was at work when she received the devastating news:
“Yesterday afternoon around like two o’clock I got a phone call saying my son drowned… I asked if they were sure… Then his father called me… Family started calling me… They told me he was holding on to some wood. One of the boys went to get a boatman to pick him up, but by the time they came back, the water had washed him away.”
Rambhajan said relatives searched throughout Monday night and into Tuesday, but have been unable to locate the teenager. She said the search has now stalled, because the family cannot afford to secure a boat.

“There is no search at the moment, because I don’t have a boat to go search for him. We searched from last night until now… I went to the station… The CID (Criminal Investigation Department) told me to continue searching in the meantime… I’m not in a position to get a boat… I’m asking the public to come out and help me search.” The grieving mother said she last spoke with her son on July 2. She described him as a caring young man who called her almost every day to check on her. She also stressed that her son did not know how to swim.
“He doesn’t know how to swim… The boys carried him out here… he’s not a swimmer… All I’m hoping for is to find my child. Actually, he does call me like every day. If I’m at work, he does call me, or if I’m at home in the night time, he does call me. Most of the time he does ask me if I eat, what I doing, how I doing. He does ask me if I cook, if I work. Because after he come home from school, he start to work. And I always tell him to be careful because he ride a bike.”
Police investigations are continuing while relatives and residents remain hopeful that the missing teenager will be found.