Four children drown at Tedzani

Four children drowned on the upper side of Tedzani III Hydro Power Station pond where they went to play on Sunday afternoon.

A statement from the Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) states that the children, who were together with two others that survived, were from surrounding villages and had gone to play at the area when they met their fate.

In the course of playing, four fell into the pond and having seen how difficult it was to help them out, the remaining two went to inform elders who in turn alerted authorities to help rescue them.

According to the statement, the electricity generation company had to lower the water levels in the pond to retrieve the bodies.

Reads the statement in part: “To facilitate the recovery of the bodies, the Tedzani pond level was lowered. As such, we remained with only one machine on load at Tedzani Three while all machines are at standstill at Tedzani One and Two.”

In a written response yesterday, Egenco spokesperson Moses Gwaza said investigations indicate that the four children were not between the ages of two and four as earlier announced in their statement.

Said Gwaza: “So far, it has been established that the ages are between nine and 12 and not as earlier indicated. The four came from Mzigala Village in Blantyre.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has provided financial support to the bereaved families through the office of the Blantyre District Commissioner.

Dodma recovery and response officer Harris Kachale in a separate telephone interview yesterday said families of the four children have received K150 000 each.

He said: “We have come in to help as Dodma with financial support to assist the bereaved families to accord the four children a decent burial. Each family has received K150 000 so that they are able to cover funeral costs.”