A boat accident in Suriname waters Friday has left a 55-year-old Guyanese captain dead while his son and other crew members drifted for three hours until they were rescued.
Dead is Rudra Persaud of Number 77 Housing Scheme, Corentyne Berbice. He was a fisherman for over 32 years.
Persaud was the captain of ‘Rosanna 1’. It alleged that a speed boat crashed into the fishing vessel at an area known as ‘Long Pole.’
Premdat Sohan, a crew member of Number 55 Village, was injured during the collision; he is in the hospital nursing broken ribs, burns about the body and hypertension.
Other crew members of the vessel include the captain’s son, 23-year-old Ravendra Persaud along with Sukhpaul Kaiso, 26, of Number 77 Village and Shazad Ally, 17.
Kaiso told reporters that the vessel began to sink after the collision and so they cut seine and started the engine to head to shore but unfortunately, the boat began to sink.
While he is thankful to be alive, Kaiso said he cannot stop thinking about what happened.
He said they sought refuge in an ice box but it turned over and they all fell overboard.
According to Kaiso, the crew along with the captain held onto the ice boat and floated until they saw another boat and screamed for help some three hours later.
He said the captain held on and died when he was sure his crew would be rescued.
According to Kaiso, the captain told them he knew he would die since he was already seriously injured.
The crew described their captain as a hardworking man who made sacrifices for his family.
