A 14-year-old boy has died after drowning in Rumphi River at Luwuchi area in Rumphi.

According to Police, the deceased identified as Shadreck Mtawali drowned on Wednesday this week.

Police report says Mtawali together with his two friends went to the Rumphi river for swimming.

Whilst they were swimming, sand dunes from river bank fell onto Mtawali which made him fail to swim up and consequently he drowned. One of his friends sustained a fracture on the femur while the other escaped unhurt.

The matter was reported to Chiweta police unit. Police officers rushed to the scene along with medical personnel from Luwuchi Health.

Postmortem results confirmed that death was due to suffocation.

Rumphi police has since advised parents and guardians in the district to restrict their children from crossing or swimming flooded rivers.

Mtawali hailed from Mtaisi village under Traditional Authority Mwalweni in Rumphi district