MPUNGU VLEI – A seven-year-old boy drowned in a well on Good Friday at Mpungu village some 50km south of Nkurenkuru in Kavango West.
It is alleged the boy identified as Kudumo Frans Hamutenya, a grade one pupil at Mpungu Primary School, went missing on Friday while herding cattle.
It appears the boy fell into the isolated well just outside Mpungu. He was with his big brother who later left him alone, and it is believed that while herding the cattle he might have wanted water and fell into the well.
Villagers say the well was dug by a contractor given the tender to construct the tarred road in the area and was left for the community after the contract was done.
Previously a cow fell into the well and also drowned. Family and friends were looking all over for the boy not knowing he drowned in the well.
“The family called the local police to go to the well to see if he might have fallen into the well but they could not see a body. It was only discovered by fellow villagers who took it upon themselves to search the water. They discovered the body on Sunday morning and phoned the police to take the corpse to the mortuary,” said Manyengo Jasson, the chairperson of the Village Development Committee.
Manyengo urged the elders to warn residents of the dangers of neglecting children near wells and streams that might pose a danger and also to make use of the taps provided in the area.
“We have enough taps from which to get water and we must move away from wells and other open waterholes in the area as they are dangerous and unhealthy,” he said.