A one-year-old boy has died after slipping from his mother’s back and falling into a well at Mponela in Dowa District.
Deputy Public Relations Officer for Mponela police station, Sergeant Macpatson Msadala identified the child as Adam Andrea of Kaphirikwete Village under Traditional Authority Mponela in the district.
Msadala said that the incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon at Kaphirikwete Village.
“It is said that the mother was drawing water from a well which is about 8:35 metres deep
“In the course of drawing water, the wrapper (chitenje) she strapped her child with, got loose and resulted into the baby falling into the well,” said Msadala.
He added that the mother called for help and people came but it was too late to save the child.
The villagers removed the body of the child from the well before reporting to Mponela Police Station.
Detectives accompanied by a medical officer from Mponela Rural hospital visited the scene whereby Postmortem conducted revealed that death was due to suffocation secondary to drowning.
Meanwhile, Police are appealing to people in the area to be cautious when drawing water in the well to avoid similar incidents.
