Two children died by drowning

POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING THE DEATHS OF TWO CHILDREN by drowning at
separate locations Sunday.

A Guyana Police Force blotter said 10-year-old Anand Mangroo of Hope Low Lands, East Coast
Demerara (ECD) was fished out of the Atlantic Ocean, while 18-month-old Orinda August of
Pottsville, Kwakwani, Berbice River, Upper Demerara/Berbice (Region Ten) was found dead in
a bucket of water.

Mangroo, his 13-year-old brother, Ajay, and an eight-year-old cousin, Brian went for a swim in
the Atlantic Ocean. Around 16:00 hours he encountered difficulties after “a wave lashed” him
towards the Hope Koker channel and he went under and did not resurface. His brother, Ajay
screamed for help, but got no assistance.

The police said they unclear if any adults were around at the time of the incident. The press
statement said they were contacted and a search commenced for the body. At 20:20hrs, the boy’s
body was fished out of the water at Hope Foreshore, West Coast Demerara (WCD).

The body is now awaiting a post mortem examination (PME).

It is not yet clear how the 18-month-old met her demise in the bucket sometime between
17:30hrs and 18:10hrs. What is known is that the child’s mother, Amanda Wills, left home to
attend a funeral in the company of her other children – a seven-year-old male and a 15-year-old
female.

At the time, the sister was upstairs with the child while her brother Tyrel Williams was
downstairs playing. Williams later went upstairs to check on his siblings which he saw were
sleeping. According to reports her brother made checks and discovered the child lying head
down in a bucket of water. August was pulled out by her brother who raised an alarm. She was
subsequently rushed to the Kwakwani Hospital Complex where she was pronounced dead on
arrival.

The police press statement said no marks of violence were seen on the exposed parts of the
child’s body and that no foul play is suspected.

Investigations into both drowning incidents are continuing.