An Upper Corentyne man is now dead after a speedboat reportedly crashed into his fishing boat in the vicinity of Long Pole in Suriname’s waters early yesterday morning.
Boat captain Rudra Persaud, 51, of Lot 153 Number 77 Village Housing Scheme, died in the water while waiting for help.
His son, Ravindra Persaud, 23, along with other crewmen, Sukpaul Kaiso, 26, of Lot 287 Number 77 Village Housing Scheme, Shazad Ali, 17, also of Number 77 Village, Corentyne, and Premnauth Sohan, of Number 55 Village, Corentyne, survived the accident.
Stabroek News was told that Sohan is presently hospitalised at the Skeldon Public Hospital due to injuries to his ribs that he sustained.
The crew left on Thursday to go fishing from the Number 66 Fisheries, located on the Corentyne, on a boat which is owned by Aaron Hussain, of Number 55 Village, Corentyne.
According to the survivors, they were fast asleep when they felt something hit their boat, Rosanna 1. It was around 12 am at that time. “Less than three minutes [after] the boat start go down, so we jump in the ice box and then that turn over and we all go overboard,” said Kaiso. “We try to hold on the ice box with the life jacket,” he added.
The men said that they held on until 3 am on Friday morning. “We see the boat and we call, call, call and the captain been already a catch cramp,” Kaiso said.
According to the men, the captain held on until he saw that they would be rescued. “He tell we hold on and keep together and he give we mind and when he see the boat a come and when we already near for meet the boat then he close he eye,” an emotional Kaiso explained. “He (captain) say Ronald me know me go dead but ayo hold on,” Kaiso noted.
Captain Persaud was a father of two.
“He a talk that when he come out this trip he a go paint he house inside and polish he floor,” Kaiso recounted. “Up to yesterday he make joke with abie and so and now this happen.”
Meanwhile, according to the survivors, the rescue boat while retrieving their seine found a portion of a speed boat tangled inside. “We don’t know what happen to them people that because we na really see much but only that piece speedboat we see afterwards,” Kaiso said. (Bebi Oosman)
