Lilongwe Area 24 Christmas tragedy: 3 kids drown, 2 survive
Three kids aged between 1 to two and half years old drowned in a well in Lilongwe’s populous Area 24 township during Christmas eve throwing spanners into celebrations their parents had planned to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The three Halid Usuman, Bright Magulu and another one known as Alinafe are said to have left their parents who were attending to other chores to go to the nearby well without the consent of their parents.
The well which is two hundred meters away from the Magulu’s house is normally without water during the dry season but is full of water during the rainy season.
According to information sourced by Nyasa Times, Alinafe alerted the women that his friends had drowned but at first, they ignored him.
“The boy kept on shouting kuchitsime, kuchitsime Bright. But the women at first ignored him but later on decided to go and check what was at Kuchitsime,” said a source.
The source said Seeing how restless the boy was the women decided to go to the nearby well where they found Halid Usuman unconscious while Bright Magulu was still showing signs of life.
The two were rushed to Kamuzu Central Hospital where Halid was pronounced dead on arrival while Bright Magulu was treated as an outpatient.
Chauncy Magulu father to Bright confirmed to Nyasa Times about the predicament saying his Christmas plans were wrecked and he is yet to come to terms with the death of one of his sons friend.
In an interview at their residence Magulu said he still does not understand how a two-year-old could summon enough courage to rush back home to inform elders that his friends have drowned.
“I think we indeed have guardian angels because had this boy not summoned enough courage to rush back home to report the issue, I could have also lost my son. I want to warn all parents to take extra care and put in more effort when taking care of their children during this rainy season because anything can happen,’ said Magulu.
Meanwhile the body of Halid Usuman was laid to rest yesterday following all Muslim rites.
Traditional leaders in the area have since urged parents to make sure that they are in control of their kids especially this rainy season because the area has so many wells.
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RIP, ku lilongwe zisime zimanyanya ummm every compound.
RIP
“Without consent” is a travesty. These are children aged 1-3 for goodness sake…. wheres the responsibility of their parents?!
So they were 5 since 3 drown and 2 survive
The idiot and lazy chiefs, need to organise their communities to find covers for these wells, not giving stupid advice. Mwana ndikanyama Kamakani, once they are curious about something amakuthawa kuti akawometsetse.Kids are too adventurous, it’s their nature. Best to cover those wells
Izi zokumba zitsime muma location kapena titi muma residential areas ndi ngozi yaikulu.
I understand that this is becoz our previous governments have failed to supply one of the basic human needs like water in our townships but there has to be some regulation on how wells dug within the residential areas should be protected to avoid preventable tragedies like these…..
The direct root causes of this tragedy is human( children and parents are leads). Investigators will start with these.
Seems like the one who drowned is one child. To drown means to die in water, not just falling in water.
The other two fell into the well and were rescued.
Sad. MTSRIP