PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) — Rescue teams in Suriname have recovered the seven remaining bodies that were missing following a boating accident that took place on Sunday near the Tapoekoe/Bamboesi area in the Marowijne district.

The Suriname Police Force (KPS) said that the bodies of four people, including two children, reported missing after the fatal boat accident, had been recovered on Tuesday, and as a result, all missing persons have now been located.

The boating incident occurred when a group of family members were returning to Saint-Laurent from Albina after attending a funeral. All victims are said to be part of one family from Saint-Laurent.

The KPS reported on its website that the aluminium boat with the 12 occupants capsized approximately in the middle of the Marowijne River “presumably due to a gust of wind, causing the boat to end up in a large wave and sink as a result”.

Immediately after the accident, the bodies of a three-year-old boy and a 28-year-old adult were recovered.

Five crew members were brought to safety with the help of others on Sunday evening. They were transferred to French Guiana for medical treatment.

The 12 people, all from French Guiana, were coming from a mourning meeting in the indigenous village of Bamboesi and were on their way to the French Guiana village of Paddock. The aluminium boat capsized approximately in the middle of the Marowijne River.

President Chandrikapersad Santokhi has declared Wednesday as a “Day of National Mourning” and that all flags on public buildings and ships moored at the quay will be flown at half-mast.

Santokhi is also expected to sign the book of condolence in the press centre of the Office of the President on Wednesday.