PUPIL (9) DROWNS IN FLOODED RIVER

LUHLEKO – She was walking home from school with her friends and little did she know that it was the last time she was with them.
That  is the sad story  of a 9-year-old  girl from KaLuhleko, who tragically  lost her life after drowning in the Lusushwana River, which was flooded due to the the recent rains. This incident occurred on Tuesday at around 3pm.

The name of the minor is known to this publication but has been withheld for ethical reasons.
Information gathered from a resident, Sifiso Gamedze, who stays a few kilometres from the river, was to the effect that the deceased, who was doing Grade II at Bhunya Primary School, was in the company of her friends and they were heading home after school.

Downstream

Gamedze said as per the norm, the pupils decided to use a shortcut as a way of ensuring that they reached home early.
He said the path they used cuts right through the middle of the Lusushwana River instead of using a footbridge which is situated a few kilometres from the illegal crossing route.

Gamedze said it was unfortunate that at that particular point in time, the rain was beginning to pour down heavily. He said upon their arrival at the river, the pupils discovered that it was beginning to be flooded.  As a result, the deceased’s friends hurried to make it through to the other side of the river before the water, which was coming at a high speed, could catch up with them.

The young girl is said to have remained behind, trying to unfasten her shoes. “By the time she finished untying her shoes, her friends had almost made it through to the other side of the river and she attempted to catch up with them but unfortunately it was a bit too late as the raging water swept her downstream,” Gamedze said.

He said upon realising that the girl was being swept away by the water, one of her friends who had safely made it through the other side, attempted to rescue her, however, with futile attempts.

 Gamedze said after realising that their attempts to rescue her had failed, the other children ran home to notify their parents that their friend had drowned.
Gamedze said soon after receiving the information, he ran towards the river, hoping to assist the minor because he was worried that the child who had drowned  belonged to his family since there was a girl child within the family, who also  attended the same school.

He said it was not long before he was joined by a search party comprising police, rangers and residents of the area who searched for the child until late in the evening but to no avail. Gamedze said at dawn yesterday, the search party headed straight to the river again but this time around, they were joined by Scuba Divers who managed to retrieve the body of the child which was hanging from a branch downstream.

Gamedze said as residents of the area, they were advocating for the construction of a footbridge at the area where the child drowned. This, he said was because the shortcut where the minor drowned was the easiest way for residents than the legal crossing area.

Programme

He reiterated on the construction of the bridge, citing that it was necessary, particularly during the rainy season as the water sometimes rises above the normal level, thus exposing the residents of the area to the danger of drowning.  

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superindent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the matter.  Following the incident, inspectors from Micro Projects visited the area to inspect the place where the child drowned in a bid to possibly construct a bridge for the residents to cross through. This was confirmed by Bucopho of the area, Muzi Maseko, who was found showing the inspectors the illegal crossing point where the child drowned.  

“The construction of the bridge is very paramount since a massive number of residents cross at that illegal crossing point from time to time,” said Maseko.  
The team of inspectors, who were led by Sam Sweet, Bridge Programme Director clarified that their visiting the site did not insinuate that the bridge would definitely be constructed as no final agreements had been reached yet.

He said they visited the site only to explore if there was a possibility of constructing a bridge.
 
 

  

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