An 11-year-old is now dead after he went swimming in a canal in the presence of his two younger female cousins yesterday (Friday) but failed to resurface from the water moments after encountering difficulties in keeping his head above the surface.
The deceased has been identified as Akon Richards of lot 45 De Kendren, West Coast Demerara (WCD).
He resided with his grandmother at the above-mentioned address and is said to have lost his life on Friday around 15:35h in the De Kinderen canal.
HGP Nightly News understands that the child had been playing in the rain with his nine (9) and five (5) year old female cousins when he ventured into the nearby canal to swim.
According to the police, Richards was initially cheered on by his cousins, who remained on the dam, while he was swimming in the canal.
However, he subsequently encountered difficulties and was seen struggling to remain on the surface of the water.
The police stated that the youth was unsuccessful in his attempt and “went down without resurfacing.”
His two cousins witnessed the ordeal and rushed to notify their mother of the situation but according to the cops, the woman initially ignored the reports of her daughter.
However, the two children were persistent and insisted that Richards “went into the water but did not come out” which caused their mother to begin sounding calls for Richards.
She reportedly received no response and quickly alerted the boy’s grandmother who also ventured out of the house and began calling for her grandson.
Her calls went unanswered as well, and they then mobilized a team of family members and neighbours to execute a search in the said canal to locate the missing boy.
However, they did not find Richards until 22:00h last night “by which time the Police were alerted and responded about 20:30 h,” a police release stated.
The motionless Richards was fished out of the De Kinderen canal by family members and was escorted to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where the 11-year-old was pronounced dead.
His body is presently at the Ezekiel Funeral Parlor a Post Mortem Examination (PME) as investigations into the matter continue.
