Two brothers feared dead after canoe capsizes on Shire River

Two brothers, aged 10 and 14, are believed to have died after they drowned in the Shire River when a dug-out canoe which they were traveling in capsized.

The children are Ezra who is aged 10 and Petro Clemence, 14.

Nsanje Police spokesperson sergeant Agnes Zalakoma confirmed the development saying the children were traveling on water using a dug-out canoe to cross the crocodile-infested Shire from Mozambique to Malawi.

“We can confirm that two children are feared dead after the canoe they were traveling in capsized around Traditional Authority Tengani in the district. They were three of them but one managed to swim to the offshore,” said Zalakoma.

She added that police and well-wishers are yet to find the children but search is in progress.

According to sources privy to the scene, the children were coming from their farming fields in Mozambique and in the process of crossing the river, their canoe was blown away by strong winds.

Shire is Malawi’s largest and longest river. It starts from Lake Malawi, Africa’s third largest fresh water lake, and pours its waters into the Zambezi in Mozambique.

Incidents of crocodile attacks are not rare along the Shire but the large reptiles rarely collide with vehicular traffic plying along the river.