Policeman dies as boat sinks in Ekereku, Mazaruni River

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Feb 1, CMC – The body of a 39-year-old police officer was found in the Ekereku, Mazaruni River, a tributary of the Essequibo River in northern Guyana On Tuesday, a day after the boat he was travelling sank while he and two others were on patrol.
A police statement noted that Corporal Balgrave Bartholomew and his colleague Constable Travis Bess and miner Devon Williams, were returning from a river patrol duty in a wooden craft when the tragedy occurred.
“As they were mid-way the river, the craft began to take in water from the bow and quickly sank. Bess and Williams managed to swim to shore but Cpl. Bartholomew was unsuccessful,” the statement noted.
The police said a search party comprising of residents later found the lifeless body of Bartholomew and that it will be transported to the Bartica Hospital Mortuary for a post mortem examination on Wednesday.