25th of June, 2022. Essequibo, Guyana, South America. GSA News
Last updated: June 25, 2022 at 18:13 pmA passenger speedboat carrying about 18 persons, including children and at least one baby, went under the water in the Essequibo river today, 25th of June, 2022 at around 2:30 pm. Some feedback received suggest that the boat might have been overloaded.
Thankfully, no lives were lost, and this is thanks in part to some heroic acts that were reported during the incident.
One of the survivors of the disaster, Chris Gopaul, related:
We are all fine by the grace of God, and we have real heroes amongst us. The guy with the baby (photograph above) sat there with someone else’s child. Kwasi Ace Edmondson snatched a baby girl (aged 2 or 3) and jumped in the shallow area saving her life. I want to believe that the guy with the baby and a few friends are members of the GDF who were very active in lending assistance. Michael Ignatius was there lending a hand as well with a baby in his hands. Clemencio Godette was in the water telling people to stay calm.
-Chris Gopaul
According to information received, the boat started to take in water around the Leguan area and quickly went down forcing the passengers to swim. Thankfully, passengers of speedboats plying the Essequibo River are usually outfitted with lifejackets. Nevertheless, the passengers were traumatized by the incident. Many personal belongings were lost under the watery depths.
Thankfully there were clumps of mangrove bushes close to where the boat sank, and persons grabbed hold of the branches. A rescue boat was sent from Parika and transported the wet and terrified survivors to Supenaam.
He is that child hero, he should allowed to keep intouch so when that child get older she can tell a story of him . God will reward him