Man drowns in Lotsane River

Correspondent | Wednesday February 4, 2015 11:05

The body of the deceased was recovered on Sunday morning. Palapye Police Station Commander, Superintendent Waboraro Ramaja said the deceased was an employee of a construction company in the village. He said the incident was reported to the police at 9pm on Friday.

“We were told that a man slipped into the water while trying to cross Lotsane River behind the Zion Christian Church, which was overflowing. We immediately rushed to the scene only to find that the water had dragged him. It was late in the evening, so it would have been risky to attempt a rescue at that time. We prepared to search the next day,” he said.  On Saturday morning, Palapye police officers, together with a search team of scuba divers from Gaborone and Mahalapye and personnel from the Fire Department, began a thorough search for the drowned man.   “Our search started at around 6am from the point where the deceased person reportedly drowned. We searched across the river until very late in the afternoon when it became too risky to search any further,” said Ramaja. He said the search had continued until Sunday morning when their efforts bore fruit.  “We managed to recover the body of the deceased at a point in the river where there is a waterfall known to the villagers as ‘Three’ because of its shape. It is a short distance from the point where the deceased fell,” he explained.  

The corpse has been taken to hospital for a post mortem and investigations are ongoing.  Ramaja stated that this was the first drowning incident to be reported this year. He advised community members to be cautious when crossing the river and ensure that they use bridges. “No one knows which direction the river will flow, as it has catchment areas outside Palapye where the water flows from,” he said.