Three girls drown in dam
The girls ventured into deeper waters but got into difficulty and disappeared under the water.
National news:
Tonga police have reported that on 31 January, three young girls aged 13, 14, and 15 drowned while swimming in a dam at the Dludluma Trust near Tonga, Mpumalanga.
Police spokesman for Mpumalanga, Brig Leonard Hlathi said according to an eyewitness who was with the girls, they were swimming with two other boys of about the same ages.
The girls ventured into deeper waters but got into difficulty and disappeared under the water.
The boys managed to rescue themselves.
Community members were summoned and helped to recover two of the bodies.
Police divers were then called to the scene and the body of the third girl was recovered. All three victims have been identified by family members.
Mpumalanga police have requested parents and community members to be aware of their children’s whereabouts at all times and to keep them under supervision, especially when swimming in rivers and dams.
At the same time, children are requested to act responsibly and obey their parents and adhere to warnings of swimming in dangerous places.
“This is an unfortunate situation in which three young lives were lost in the blink of an eye. We request the community to heed the warnings that we as police are constantly issuing. In this way tragedies such as this can be avoided,” said Brig Hlathi.
