Tafadzwa Nyikadzino

Four children died from drowning after they were swept away while sleeping under a bridge in Gokwe last Friday. The children were in the company of their parents while sheltering from the rain.

According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the incident took place at around 3. 30am when a congregation of an apostolic church sect of about 20 people was praying near Tare Bridge along Gokwe-Siabuwa Road.

The congregants sought shelter from a dry bridge after it started raining. As the rain intensified upstream, water levels in the river started rising rapidly and caught them off guard. The adults managed to escape, but the children were swept away and drowned.

“Two children are from Kamba Village and their names are Beauty and Devine Mavhiringani (9 months and 4 years old). The other two are Pamela Natare (1 year 9 months old) of Tsive Village and Effort Shava (3) of Mudzimiri Village.

“The bodies of Devine, Pamela and Effort were later found at the river bank between one kilometre and about 20 kilometres from Tare Bridge. The retrieved bodies were taken to Gokwe South District Hospital Mortuary and investigations are still underway,” the police said.

However, the body of Beauty was not yet found by the time of publishing. But the police revealed that the search of the body is still ongoing.