Boat with bodies at sea yet to be recovered

Local authorities were on Tuesday still trying to locate and recover the vessel containing bodies; the vessels was first spotted drifting some 112 nautical miles from the Georgetown coast on Monday.

Reliable sources told the News Room that a vessel was only secured from a private operator Tuesday afternoon to go in search of the boat with the bodies. It is yet to be determined how many bodies are in the boat.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) conducted air reconnaissance to locate the vessel Tuesday morning.

Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn had previously told the News Room that the boat with the bodies was being towed in to shore by a tug and would have arrived in the wee hours of Tuesday.

A statement from the Ministry of Public Works, which has responsibility for the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), however, noted that the Maritime Emergency Rescue Coordination Centre was operationalised and international partners were also contacted to collaborate on the response and for information sharing.

The statement noted that the origin of the vessel and the nationality of the persons aboard are unknown.