Georgetown: A body likely to be that of one of 16 missing fishermen was discovered in the Wia Wia Bank area earlier on Wednesday morning close to where pirates attacked four fishing boats on Friday last.
The body was spotted by a pilot attached to a Surinamese airline – Gumair. The airline took the initiative to embark on the search and possibly rescue mission.
According to Scott Gummels who made the discovery with his brother Wayne, they have passed on the coordinates of where the body was spotted to the Surinamese authorities.
The body was discovered some 30 miles from Zorg-en-Hoop.
De Ware Tijd newspaper reported that Jerry Slijnagard , Director of the National Coordination Center for Disaster Management in Suriname reported that assistance from Guyana is now being considered.
He said too that the Suriname authorities have contacted their counterparts in French Guiana for assistance , since Friday night’s attack occurred closer to the maritime boundary between the two countries.” They have been asked to help find the robbers on the French side , because information about this exists and we have shared this information with them,” Slijnard said.
Suriname’s Justice Minister , Stuart Getrouw stated on Tuesday afternoon that the search for the missing men have not stopped. He also promised that better protection of fishermen in Suriname waters is on the cards.
Last Friday night into Saturday morning pirates believed to be from Guyana attacked several boats that were fishing off the coast of Suriname. Four of the men managed to swim back to land and related a harrowing experience, including one who was chopped and had an anchor tied to his neck and thrown over board.
They disclosed that some of the fishermen died immediately on the boats from the chops while others had batteries tied to them and thrown overboard so they would drown.
A total of 16 fishermen, several of them Guyanese are missing.
So far the Guyana Government has not issued any official statement on the issue.
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