Stewartville miner drowns in Cuyuni River

Dead: Yannick Janniere
Dead: Yannick Janniere

A Stewartville, West Coast Demerara miner drowned on Wednesday while working at Pepper Hill river front, Cuyuni River.

The dead man has been identified as 28-year-old Yannick Janniere called ‘Kayzim’.

The Sunday Stabroek was reliably informed that the incident occurred around 8 am on Wednesday, while Janniere and a group of workers were moving their employer’s dredge and other equipment onto a pontoon for transport to another location.

Janniere’s body was subsequently retrieved and an autopsy conducted on Friday gave the cause of death as drowning.

Reports reaching the Sunday Stabroek revealed that as the pontoon was about to depart, a rope that attached a boat to the pontoon, burst, resulting in the boat drifting downstream.

As a result, Janniere reportedly jumped into the water and began to swim towards the drifting vessel. He swam for some distance before disappearing in the water.

Several of his colleagues noticed and raised an alarm.

The matter was reported to the Bartica Police Station and several searches were launched which resulted in the recovery of Janniere’s body.