17-year-old girl drowns after being swept away in Kitwe drainage

A 17-year-old girl has drowned after being swept away by rainwater in a concrete drainage channel that feeds into the Mate Mate stream and the Kafue River in Kitwe’s Mulenga Township.

Copperbelt Police Commanding Officer, Mwala Yuyi, said a combined team of police and fire officers is continuing the search for the girl’s body.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Yuyi said the incident occurred during heavy rainfall when the girl was with two friends near the drainage channel.

“Brief facts of the matter are that on the fateful day, the victim was with her two friends chatting on the road and amid heavy rainfall decided to go home while attempting to cross the drainage,” Yuyi said.

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He said the girl slipped into the drainage channel, which was filled with fast-flowing rainwater, and was swept away into the Mate Mate stream that flows into the Kafue River.

Yuyi said that on Saturday at around 07:00 hours, a joint team comprising officers from public health, the fire brigade and the Zambia Police conducted a physical search along the Mate Mate stream and surrounding areas, but the effort yielded no results.

“The search for the body has continued, and an inquiry file has since been opened,” Yuyi said.

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