A fishing trip turned tragic in the lagoon of Poudre d’or for four police friends who went out to sea in the early evening of Monday 27 Mal. The boat they were in was capsized by a large wave at La Passe Saint Géran. The four police officers ended up in the water. Constables Bye Naseerudin Mudoo, 40, assigned to the Poudre d’or police station, and Constable Steeve Fortuno, 34, from the Piton detention center, were rescued by elements of the National Coast Guard (NCG). The other two police officers still missing are Vimal Sunnassy, 32, and Parkiyaven Moorghen, 32, both stationed at the Piton detention center. The search, which was suspended in the early evening, will resume at daybreak on Wednesday May 29.
This tragedy brings back bad memories of the sinking of the Mauritius Port Authority tug Sir Gaetan, which sank in August 2020 in almost the same place. The alert was was given to the National Coast Guard (NCG) post at Poudre d’Or by a fisherman. The fisherman was out at sea at around 7.45pm when he saw the police boat capsize. A Search And Rescue (SAR) operation was immediately launched. An NCG team went to the scene and rescued constables Bye Naseerudin Mudoo and Steeve Fortuno. They live in L’Amaury and Pointe des Lascarsu respectively.
Meanwhile at sea, the search intensified in the lagoon, with other NCG teams from Grand Gaube dispatched to Poudre d’Or. A Heavy Duty Boat (HDB) was outside the lagoon for this operation. At daybreak, a police helicopter flew over the area several times. It will fly over the area again on Wednesday morning, May 29.
