RUMBEK – A 12-year-old girl drowned after slipping into a pool that the Africa Resource Construction Company (ARC) had dug in Rumbek East County of South Sudan’s Lakes State, said police.
Maj. Gen. Enock Majok Machar, acting commissioner of police in Lakes State, told Sudan Post on Monday that tragedy happened on Sunday when a teenager slipped into a pool of water on her way to get firewood from surrounding bushes.
“When she reached there, she fell into a hole full of water (reservoir) that was drugged a long time ago but still holds some water,” Majok said.
According to Majok, the young girl was attempting to fetch water for drinking when she slipped into the pool.
“These girls came carrying a bundle of firewood; they put down their firewood, and they went to drink from that water well because they were thirsty. This is where this girl under age 12 fell into the old water well and died in that hole,” he said.
He explained that she was pulled from the water well by rescuers, but upon arriving at Thon-Aduel Hospital, she passed away.
“She died because she was thirty and wanted to drink from that water well after spending long hours fetching firewood in the bushes. This is what happened.”
The acting police commissioner cautioned parents against sending their minor children to the forest to gather firewood.
“Such minor incidences now can cause the lives of our children. It’s the role of everyone in the village, including fathers, mothers, and chiefs in the community, to take care of their children in the villages,” he said.
According to him, it is too dangerous to dig a reservoir next to the road, and community leaders should close it to prevent future occurrences of the same kind.
“Even cows and goats, if they are allowed to go and drink from that water well, will still fall into the well and die. It needs the community to find another good water well or reservoir for their livestock in the community because that water well is already dangerous for all animals and humans.”
