West Berbice fisherman drowns off Suriname

A 24-year-old fisherman of D’ Edward Village, West Bank Berbice now living in Suriname, lost his life after he was left stranded in the rough sea around 6 pm on Thursday.

Reports are that Shazim ‘Bill’ Ashraf was fishing off the shores at Nickerie and was in the water “mashing down the fishing pole” when a squall hit him.

Shazim Ashraf

His mother, Angenie ‘Ula’ Puran told Stabroek News that she learnt that her son who worked as a captain on the boat had asked a 17-year-old boy to go out with him at sea.

She said the boy was holding onto the rope while her son was in the water when a “big wave come and push away the boat.”

Ashraf kept urging the boy to “start the engine but he don’t normally go out at sea and didn’t know how to start the engine.”

She said that he tried for a long time while the boat kept drifting in the water. When he finally got through and went in search of Ashraf he couldn’t find back the spot where he was.

The woman said the boy then took the boat in to shore and reported to his “boss-man what happened.” A search was then launched for the missing man and his body was later recovered.

Ashraff who leaves to mourn his mother, siblings; Nazeema, 30, Nazim, 29 and Shazeena, 21, his two children and a pregnant wife, moved to Suriname four months ago.