Man dies in Pomeroon River boat mishap

A man died on Monday night in a river mishap at Jacklow, Lower Pomeroon River.

Dead is 20-year-old Damion Fredericks, also known as “Smirf,” a boat builder.

Reports are that earlier that evening at around 18:00hrs, Fredericks, Shane Narine, and Joseph Melville were consuming alcohol at Xenon Night Club and Bar in Charity, Essequibo Coast. They later moved to Attic Bar, where they continued imbibing.

At about 22:10hrs, the group left the Attic Bar and departed in separate boats.

Narine and Fredericks reportedly took a wooden balahoo powered by a 40hp Yamaha engine, while Melville left with a man known only as Akash in another boat to retrieve his own vessel from a relative’s location in Jacklow.

Melville later claimed that while crossing the river, he felt a hard impact to the left side of his boat; the impact caused the vessel to capsize and become submerged.

Meanwhile, eyewitness Roland Ramdeen, a 41-year-old boat builder from Jacklow Upper Pomeroon, told police he heard a loud impact on the river while watching a movie at home. Upon checking, he saw a capsised boat with significant front-end damage and another boat with damage to both sides. He found Shane and Fredericks seated at the stern, both with visible facial and head injuries.

Fredericks was motionless.

Ramdeen transported Shane to the Charity Hospital, where he was admitted and later transferred to the Suddie Public Hospital in critical condition. Fredericks, escorted separately to the hospital by relatives, was pronounced dead on arrival.

Melville was also treated at Charity Hospital and later taken into police custody at the Charity Police Station to assist with the investigation.