Black Immigrant Daily News

One man is now dead while his twin brother and another person are injured after coming under gunfire at the hands of a father and son duo.

Dead is 22-year-old Ray Wame Narine, a miner of Spring Garden, Essequibo Coast. His twin brother, Ron Keme Narine, and 30-year-old Rakesh Chunilall, also a miner of Banana Land, Berbice managed to escape and go into hiding.

The suspects – a father and his son duo – are from Pearl Village, East Bank Demerara.

The incident occurred on Thursday between 23:30 hours and 00:00 hrs at Sandhill Landing, Cuyuni River, Region Seven.

Police say the motionless body of Ray Narine was found covered with several tree branches in the northern corner of the main access road which runs East to West.

The body was clad in a grey jersey and black/white trouser. Upon examination, investigators observed two suspected gunshot wounds to his chest area along with one-inch lacerations to the abdomen and shoulder, and a 2-inch laceration to his right arm.

One suspected exit wound was observed on the right side of his back.

Additionally, a suspected warhead was also recovered in close proximity of the victim which appear to be of .32 (Caliber) ammunition.

Investigations so far revealed that the two brothers operate a dredge in the Sandhill Backdam.

According to the surviving twin, Ron Narine, about 23:30h on Thursday, he and his brother left their 4-inch mining operation and went to Sandhill Landing, Cuyuni River. He said while sitting on the front step of Shanaz Allicock shop, a Honda XR motorcycle (# unknown) rode up from a Western direction with both suspects (father and son).

Ron Narine said he recognized the pillion rider – with whom he had an altercation days before. Ron had relieved the suspect of a firearm and ammunition, which was later handed over to the Police.

The suspects dismounted the motorcycle, hurriedly walked towards the brothers’ direction with what appeared to be handguns and started to discharge several rounds in their direction.

As a result, they ran in a westernly direction with the suspects still discharging rounds in their direction.

Ron Narine recalled seeing his brother collapsed on the roadway as he continued running and sought refuge in some bushes, where he remained for about two hours after which he returned to the landing.

Upon arrival, he found his brother lying motionless on the road with what appeared to be blood on him. He later learnt that the suspects had made good their escape after shooting his brother.

Ron Narine also observed a gunshot wound to his right forearm, which was received while he was evading the suspects.

He later contacted the police and reported the matter.

Meanwhile, according to Rakesh Chunilall, he was a customer at another shop next to where the brothers were seated. He recalled he was at ‘Momo shop’ when he saw the two suspects passed him on a motorcycle and they parked the cycle in a dark area. Thereafter, he saw when they walked towards the two brothers who were sitting at a nearby shop and he saw when they pointed what appear to be handguns towards them, and he began hearing loud explosions which sounded like gunshots.

On hearing that, he and others at the shop ran to take cover and during that process, Chunilall said he felt a burning pain in his lower abdomen. He fell to the ground and became unconscious.

He was picked up by public spirited persons, placed in a motor car and taken to the Bartica Regional Hospital where he was seen and examined by the doctor on duty who observed a single suspected gunshot wound to his lower stomach which exited through his lower back.

Chunilall was thereafter referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he underwent an emergency surgery and admitted a patient currently in the recovery room.

His condition is regarded as serious but stable.

The body of Ray Narine was escorted to the Bartica Regional Hospital where it was pronounced dead on arrival and subsequently escorted to the Hospital’s Mortuary for storage, awaiting PME.

The Area was canvassed for CCTV but none was seen. Several persons were contacted, interviewed and useful information was received. Statements are currently being taken.

Police are currently looking for the two suspects.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

– Advertisement –

Senior UN officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, took part in a High-Level event at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday, noting the encouraging progress that has been made towards ending the COVID-19 pandemic, while acknowledging that work still needs to be done to ensure the most vulnerable are protected.

Mr. Guterres celebrated rising vaccination coverage worldwide, particularly among high-risk populations, and the fact that, on average, countries have vaccinated around three-quarters of health care workers and older people.

COVID-19 measures are increasingly integrated into routine health programmes, and new antiviral drugs are about to become available.

Gaps remain

– Advertisement –

However, gaps in coverage and protection remain, said Mr, Guterres. There is minimal vaccine booster coverage in all countries, and there are low vaccination rates in poorer countries. He also warned of a “shadow pandemic” of vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation, that needs to be tackled.

The UN chief also called for testing rates to be drastically improved, and for countries to ensure they are fully prepared for future pandemics.

“Making progress towards closing these gaps is what today is all about, declared Mr. Guterres. “It’s time to build political momentum to finish the job on COVID-19”.

‘We have never been in a better position to end COVID-19’

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of UN health agency WHO, has had to deliver many downbeat remarks since the beginning of the pandemic but, at Friday’s event, he was able to send a remarkably positive message.

With so many people vaccinated, and reported deaths from the virus at the lowest levels since the beginning of the pandemic, the international community, he said, has “never been in a better position to end COVID-19 as a global health emergency”.

However, Tedros echoed the concerns raised by Mr. Guterres, and referred to a report, issued on Thursday by the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Council, which revealed that most low and middle-income countries have virtually no access to new antivirals.

Whilst the Accelerator is making progress, providing almost 1.5 billion vaccine doses, and supporting 68 new countries to reach vaccination coverage of at least 40 per cent, much more needs to be done, said Tedros: “we’re not there yet, but the end is in sight”.

‘Step by step, we are making progress ‘

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, has played a key role in making sure vaccines are administered to those who need it, especially the most vulnerable.

In his opening remarks, Omar Abdi, the UNICEF Deputy Executive-Director, reminded those at the event of some of the achievements of her agency in tackling the health crisis.

These include the administering of more than 12.4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines; financing and implementing the largest ultra-cold chain scale-up in history (UNICEF financed and delivered 800 ultra-cold chain freezers to nearly 70 countries in 2021 alone); and shipping over 1.2 billion items of personal protective equipment to protect frontline and healthcare workers and others in 142 countries.

“Step by step, we are making progress”, said Ms. Russell, “but we need to keep up the momentum to protect the world against future surges and new variants. Because as long as coverage continues to be inequitable, the pandemic will continue, and so will the serious risks it poses to children”.

The head of UNICEF drew the audience’s attention to some of the knock-on effects of the pandemic on children who, she said, figure amongst its biggest victims, having faced the devastating impacts on health, education and well-being.

Routine jabs plummet

Routine vaccinations for other diseases have been significantly disrupted; Ms. Russell pointed to data from WHO and UNICEF which show that 25 million children did not receive the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis – a marker for immunization coverage in general – in 2021.

“This is the largest, sustained drop in the rates of routine childhood vaccinations in a generation”, she warned, “potentially wiping out 30 years of progress if we don’t get back on track.”

SOURCE: UN News. Headline photo: Stock image.

– Advertisement –

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Humedad periferal asociada a la Tormenta Tropical Ian ahora sobre el centro del Caribe al sur de La Española, continuará afectando la región esta mañana, trayendo aguaceros y tronadas aisladas sobre las aguas costeras y partes del este y sur.

Los estimados de radar fueron mínimos y menos de un décimo de pulgada con la lluvia más fuerte. El viento estuvo generalmente leve y variable. Las temperaturas mínimas estuvieron en los altos 70s a cerca de 80 grados en áreas costeras y los altos 60s y bajos 70s en elevaciones altas.

Se espera que el tiempo se vaya secando tarde en la mañana y temprano en la tarde a medida que una masa de aire más seca se acerque a la región para el resto del día. Sin embargo, humedad disponible y los efectos locales se deben combinar para generar aguaceros en la tarde y tronadas aisladas son posibles. Las máximas estarán en los altos 80s y bajos 90s en áreas costeras y en los altos 70s y bajos 80s en elevaciones altas.

El oleaje continuará de hasta 6 pies en el Canal de la Mona y de 5 pies o menos en el resto del área, con vientos del este de 10 a 15 nudos. Existe riesgo moderado de corrientes marinas para la mayoría de las playas.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

The woman was asking a question at a town hall meeting in New York attended by Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Cabinet colleagues. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP

NewsAmericasNow.com