By Staff Reporter
The funeral service of one of the juveniles, who drowned on Thursday in the Zambia National Service (ZNS) reserve dam in Chongwe district is being held today at Christ Mission Assembly Church in Lusaka.
Five juveniles identified as Divine Musopelo (11), Angel Mwandila (14), Daniel Mumba (10), Nkusechela Sakala (9) and Chikumbutso Banda (14), all of Meanwood Phase 3 near Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, died on Thursday after drowning in the dam.
The funeral service for one of the deceased, Musopelo, is being held today at Christ Mission Assembly in Woodlands Extension with burial to follow at Memorial Park.
According to information, Musopelo was a faithful congregant at Christ Mission Assembly, where he was perfecting the art of playing musical instruments, particularly drums.
In a statement following the death of the boys, Zambia Police service public relations officer Godfrey Chilabi stated that the tragedy occurred on Thursday, January 8, around 10:00 hours at the ZNS Airport Farms reserve dam.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that on the material day, the juveniles were swimming in the ZNS reserve dam,” Chilabi stated.
He stated that after one of the boys who did not jump into the water noticed that his friends had disappeared after failing to resurface, he reported the matter to elders in the area, who alerted the police and ZNS personnel.
“Upon receiving the report, police officers rushed to the scene and, working jointly with ZNS personnel and members of the Kampansa community, conducted a search operation,” Chilabi stated, adding that the search led to the retrieval of three bodies from the dam at around 15:00 hours, while the operation continued into the early hours of Friday.
H stated that two additional bodies were later retrieved on Friday.
Chilabi announced that police have since opened an inquiry file into the matter.
“The scene was processed, and all five bodies have been deposited at Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital Mortuary, awaiting postmortem examinations and subsequent burial,” stated Chalabi.
