A 12 year-old boy on Monday drowned in Lingadzi River near Ntandire Township in Lilongwe.

Confirming the incidence with the Malawi News Agency (Mana), Lilongwe Police Station assistant spokesperson Constable Margret Selemani identified the deceased person as Yoswa Chimwala who had gone for swimming with his friends.

“It was on Monday, yesterday when the boy went swimming with his friends in Lingadzi River and it is reportedly that the boy was found at a deep section of the river where he failed to swim back to the shore and drowned,” said the assistant spokesperson.

Selemani said his friends went back to the village at Ntandire and informed his parents who reported the matter to Lingadzi Police.

“When the Police visited the scene, they found Yoswa’s body floating in the river and post-mortem conducted revealed that death was due to suffocation,” said Selemani.

According to police report, a 14 year-old boy also drowned in the same river and in the same township, Ntandire in Lilongwe in November last year.

The Police are therefore advising parents and guardians not to let children go swimming alone unless accompanied by the elderly.

The deceased person hails from Chipunga village in the area of Traditional Authority Kalolo in Lilongwe.mana