Salima teacher drowns in Linthipe River

By Grace Kapatuka – Mana

A 26 year old teacher at Katondo primary school in Salima was on Tuesday discovered dead and floating in Linthipe River in the district after he went missing for two days.

The deceased, identified as Mayeso Mkandawire, is suspected to have drowned on December 15, 2019 after he went to the river to take a bath while drunk, according to Salima police publicist, Jacob Khembo.

“The deceased went to Mphinzi Trading Centre to take beer, some four kilometres from the school. It is alleged that he went to the river to take a bath after drinking beer but due to drunkenness and water pressure from the river, he was washed away,” said Khembo.

According to Khembo, fellow teachers at Katondo primary school and the community around Mphinzi Trading Centre started searching for him but only managed to find his clothes lying at the river bank.

“On December 17, 2019, the search continued and at around 11 am, the dead body was found floating along the river side away from where he drowned. The body was taken to Salima District Hospital for postmortem where results showed that he died due to suffocation,” said Khembo.

Mkandawire hailed from Chipumi village in Sub Traditional Authority Kapondo in Mchinji.

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