Sad news 2: Ahmad and the river

Ahmad was the vet that followed the research on small cats. A well-educated, quiet and serious guy with a nice smile. He disappointed me with his examination of the ratufa squirrel. After working for several weeks he finally took some days off, and decided to go out. It has now been heavy raining for several weeks and all rivers are flooded. I had to “rescue” people that were stranded on the other side of the river from camp (we have a truck inner tube we use as a boat). When Ahmad got to the last (large) river to cross, something happened, probably his feet got trapped in the mud at the bottom, he couldn’t overcome the current, went down and was swept away. Opo, the station manager, had crossed before him, found it hard to swim across, but had made it, and asked him if he felt he could do it. He was ready to hand him a long branch to help. He jumped back when he saw him struggling, but by the time he reached the backpack to which Ahmad was clinging, he was gone. He searched around, people came from the station, bringing the inner tube to explore downriver. Next day we all went to help, painful dynamics with search & rescue teams, incredulity, profound shock, sadness. They found the body 400m downriver, trapped under a log.