Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
TWO boys from Cowdray Park suburb in Bulawayo drowned on Wednesday while swimming in a pit that was allegedly dug by a company that is in the process of setting up a fuel service station in the suburb.
The two boys, aged nine and 12 years drowned and their friend, whose age could not be ascertained immediately who was swimming with them, rushed home to alert adults about the incident.
When a Chronicle news crew arrived at the scene of the incident by about midday on Wednesday, scores of residents including relatives of the minors had converged at the site.
Police and Bulawayo Fire Brigade teams were also on site.
The deceased boys’ families were crying while a male adult identified as the father to one of the boys collapsed when he got to the scene.
The bodies of the two minors were retrieved by a resident Mr Castro Moyo.
“I was coming from town and I saw that a lot of people had gathered here so I decided to drop off from the kombi to try and understand what was happening. I was told that two boys had drowned. Already, the city’s fire brigade team was on site as well as the police but it seems they did not have the skills to remove the bodies. I went home and came back a few moments later,” said Mr Moyo.
“I offered to remove the bodies despite not knowing how deep the pool was. I jumped into the water and managed to remove the two boys, I don’t know how deep the place is but it was very deep and I submerged, you can imagine how it was for those minors.”
Bulawayo United Resident Association (BURA) Cowdray Park chairman Mr Chippa Nechironga said:
“We are told this place is owned by a company that wants to set up a fuel station. So, it dug this pit and left it unattended and now we have lost lives.
They should have put a perimeter fence to cover their pits because children, even when you tell them not to do this, they will do it anyway. As residents we are concerned as this is not the first time that a child has been lost through drowning in the suburb. Council should strictly enforce regulations so that companies do not endanger residents in carrying out their operations,” said Mr Nechironga.
Cowdray Park Councillor Kidwell Mujuru said: “This is a serious challenge for us here in Cowdray Park. Since I was elected councillor in 2019, I think we have lost four lives where children would have fallen into open pits. Sadly, this one is a pit that was dug by a company that is investing in Bulawayo. In the past, the recorded deaths were those caused by sand poachers. We expect a certain level of professionalism among companies that are working in the city,” said Cllr Mujuru,
He also appealed to parents to discourage their children from playing in water bodies considering that sand poachers continue to degrade the environment.
Acting Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Mr Linos Phiri said in the coming week his team will start conducting campaigns to discourage the public from playing in water bodies.– @nqoetshili
Online Reporter