A 13-year old boy in  Dedza on Friday drowned after falling into Nankokwe River near Mtakataka Trading Centre.

Cassim Manda, Dedza Police station Spokesperson, identified the deceased as Yamikani Makina, who along with his friends, went to bath when he met his tragic fate.

Manda said the young men were bathing the deceased went into deep waters where he failed to swim.

The police  said the late Makina’s friends went to inform the elders but it was too late as their friend had already died.

A postmortem was performed at Mtakataka health centre which revealed that the cause of death was suffocation.

“This is the second death by drowning in two weeks. Another boy died last week when the soil on the river banks fell under him when he and his friends went swimming,” Manda said.

The police are advising parents and guardians not to let their children near the river or other areas of water like water well; this is to avoid repeats of this tragic nature.

The late Makina hailed from Mchanja Village, Traditional Authority (T.A) Kachindamoto in Dedza district.