Female visitor to Kaieteur Falls presumed missing; tours suspended

Last Updated on Wednesday, 2 September 2015, 1:09 by GxMedia

Police were Tuesday night probing a report that a female Guyanese visitor to Kaieteur National Park has gone missing.

Minister responsible for the Environment, Raphael Trotman told Demerara Waves Online News that all tourism-related flights to the Kaieteur National Park have been suspended to allow investigators and a search party to locate the woman.

Trotman said the woman was part of an Air Services Limited (ASL)-operated tour from 2 PM to 4 PM. At the end of the tour, it was realized that one of the nine visitors was missing and a search began until almost sunset. “At the end of the tour, it was realized she was not with her tour party and so efforts were made to find her but because fading light that had to come to an end,” he told Demerara Waves Online News.

Police said they were questioning several persons and planned to deploy a team to the area Wednesday morning.

An ASL official would only say that the domestic carrier and the Department of Natural Resources of the Ministry of the Presidency were liaising to ascertain what happened. The official noted that this is the first such incident linked to the airline that has moved thousands of vistors to Kaieteur.

The Minister responsible for the Environment was quite hopeful that the woman would be found. “At this point in time we are not considering it as tragic and are quite hopeful that she will found,” he said.