A Guyanese fisherman is now feared dead after he reportedly was thrown off a fishing vessel in neighbouring Suriname on Thursday.
The man has been identified as 25-year-old Sean Orlando Sewchand, also called ‘Bakes,’ formerly of Nigg Settlement on the Corentyne Coast in East Berbice, who had been living in Suriname for the past four years.
Reports are that Sewchand was part of a crew of five plying their trade in the Marowinje River near the Dutch border when an argument erupted between him and a colleague. The argument quickly turned into a fight, during which he was thrown overboard.
Realising that Sewchand could not swim, his colleagues had reportedly gone after him; but he disappeared in the murky waters, and despite spending hours searching for him, they came up empty-handed. The suspect was subsequently handed over to Surinamese lawmen.
Meanwhile, a relative in Guyana recalled speaking to Sewchand on Tuesday. During the conversation, she noted, he had appeared eager to go on his next fishing trip.
