More misery for pirate attack survivor as wife dies

The reputed wife of one of the men who survived the gruesome pirate attack off the coast of Suriname has died, adding fresh misery for a man already in deep grief over the loss of his friends.

Sherwin Lovell, 33, and the four others on his boat were attacked by the same gang that attacked three other boats on April 27, offshore Suriname, closer to French Guiana.

Each of the boats had five men. Five are known to have survived while Surinamese Police have recovered three bodies; the 12 others are considered missing and feared dead.

Lovell told the News Room team in Suriname that the gang poured hot oil on him and his friends and chopped them; while the others were thrown overboard, Lovell said he jumped overboard and escaped, spending two nights at sea before he reached the shore.

Once he did, he borrowed someone’s phone to call Police and he was later taken to the hospital.

From there, he said he called his wife Michelle Carol, who is originally from Mocha, East Bank Demerara, and learnt that something had bitten her on one of her fingers and that the wound was “darkening.”

The doctors wanted him to spend three days in the hospital, but Lovell wanted to go home to see his wife.

“When I learnt of her condition I couldn’t stay in hospital.

“If you love someone and they are sick you have to be there for them, you know? I took care of her, and now this morning I woke up and she was dead,” Sherwin told the News Room from the rented apartment he was staying at in Paramaribo on Sunday.

Lovell said his wife had gone to the hospital and was sent home with medication but her condition did not improve.

“I made tea soup for her, I made tea for her; I took care of her and now this.

“I want to know why all this thing happening to me.”

The deadly pirate attack and what we know so far:

• Four boats carrying some 20 fishermen were attacked in the vicinity of the Wia Wia bank in Suriname on April 27, 2018 by five pirates.

• They were beaten and dumped overboard with heavy objects attached to their bodies and left to die.

• 16 of the fishermen were said to be missing

• There are five survivors, including Sherwin Lovell, the fisherman who was stranded at sea for six days after he jumped overboard

• Three bodies were spotted and recovered at various points.

• On May 3, one of the bodies, identified as that of Danesh Persaud, was retrieved.

• The three bodies are being held at a mortuary in Paramaribo.

• Police in Berbice have three persons in custody, including a Corentyne boat owner

• Police in Suriname are questioning seven persons, including a Guyanese who was handed over to them by local fishermen

• It is suspected that the pirate attack is revenge for the murder of Somnauth Manohar, 50, who was gunned down in Suriname on March 30.

• His brother, Nakool Manohar called “Fyah”, a businessman of Number 43 Village, was questioned by local police

• The missing men so far identified are: Tilaknauth Mohabir, 50, also known as ‘Kai’; Ganesh Beharry, Ralph Anthony Couchman, 19, also known as ‘Burnham’; Ramesh Sancharra, 48; Glenroy Jones, 21; Ramnarine Singh; Bharat Heeralall also known as “Record”, 49; Sunil known as Poddock, Mahesh Sarjoo, 35 and Rajkumar Bissessar.