LIMPOPO – Polcie in Limpopo have once more warned communities of safety around large bodies of water following the death of four children in three separate drowning incidents.
Police spokesperson, Col Moatshe Ngoepe says the incidents took place within the week with the last incident taking place on Saturday, 8 December.
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In the first incident, a two-year-old toddler, Gundo Precious Sidogi, was found drowned in a water tank at her home in the Levubu Policing area, outside Thohoyandou. Ngoepe says the little girl was playing when she fell inside the tank and died on the scene.
In the second incident, two 15-year-old boys, Lesetja Morifi and Petrus Legodi, drowned while swimming in a river in Utjane near ga-Mashashane outside Polokwane.
“Police were summoned to the scene and a search operation led by the Search and Rescue Unit ensued until the lifeless bodies of the boys were retrieved from the water,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the Waterval Policing area outside Makhado, an inquest docket has been opened following a drowning incident which occurred on Saturday, 8 December, at the Lemana Dam near Magangeni village.
This, after three children between the ages of 12 and 14-years-old were swimming in the dam and one of them, a 14-year-old boy, Ntwanano Maluleke, drowned.
The boy’s body was retrieved during a search operation led by the Search and Rescue Unit.
“Police are reiterating their call to communities to be extremely careful around dams and rivers, especially during the festive season. Parents must strengthen child safety at all times to prevent these tragedies from occurring,” Ngoepe concluded.