A seven-year-old boy has died after drowning in Nambuma river in Lilongwe.
The deceased has been identified as Chisomo Hardwell, 7, who hailed from Chibanda village in the area of Traditional Authority Kayembe in Dowa district.
Public relations officer for Mponela police sergeant Macpatson Msadala has confirmed and said that the incident occurred on August 9, 2021 at around 09:00 hours at Salavuka village in the area of Traditional Authority Kayembe.
According to Msadala, the boyhad epilepsy and on August 9, 2021 there was tombstone unveiling ceremony at Chibanda village which happens to be the boy’s mother home village.
“The mother came to the village with the boy in order to attend the said ceremony. At around 09:00 hours, the boy was playing with other two children aged 4 and 5 years old.
“The houses are close to Nambuma river so the three boys went down to the river to play. While there, Chisomo was caught with epileptic seizures and he fell in the river and got drowned,” said Msadala.
The other two children called for help but by the time people came to retrieve him from the river he was already dead.
Officers from Mponela Police Station together with medical personnel from Chisepo Health Centre visited the scene.
Postmortem conducted established that death was due to suffocation secondary to drowning.
Police in the district have therefore advised parents to take care of their young ones to avoid such accidents.
