Machinga records increase in drowning incidents

There has been an increase in the number of people drowning in Shire River in Liwonde in 2015, statistics from Machinga Police have indicated.

During the period from January to August, police have registered three drowning cases, whereas only two cases were registered the whole of last year.

Machinga Police Station officer-in-charge Gideon Nahumu, speaking in an interview last week, said: “Many drowning and crocodile attack cases take place along the Shire River in Liwonde, at a place called Mpale, where fishing is practised. However, most cases are not reported to police because residents regard them as usual occurrences that do not need to be reported to police.”

He said the cases are also rampant because people are not afraid of crocodiles and hippos in the Shire River such that even children bath and wash without fear of consequences of such behaviour.

Said Nahumu: “Police, together with other stakeholders such as community policing and National Initiative for Civic Education [Nice] Trust, conduct sensitisation campaigns, but these are usually not followed.”