English
Kinyarwanda
Rwanda National Police has called upon parents and guardians to sensitize their children about the dangers of playing around water bodies, after a 12 year old boy died after drowning in Yanze River in Jari Sector, Gasabo District.
Police disclosed that the boy drowned on April 3 when he had gone to swim in the river ignorant about the dangers that were involved.
"It is very important for ommunities which reside near water bodies to sensitize young people about the dangers involved with playing near or trying to swim in rivers," Superintendent Modest Mbabazi, Police Spokesperson for Central Region said.
"Such accidents are unfortunate but preventable if more care was given to yojng people."
He challenged parents and head teachers to always be on look out for their children and pupils to avoid such disasters and appealed to the general public to call Police toll free lines – 110 for maritime and 111 for fire and other disasters for immediate rescue.
Carelessness by some parents and guardians of minding less about their children playing in and around water bodies like lakes, rivers, dams and streams is one of the causes of drowning.
In most cases, these children are left unattended, while the elders don’t care on the whereabouts yet they reside near water bodies like lakes, rivers, dams and streams.
Sending the youngsters to fetch water in these water bodies, especially at night, is not a good decision because they become susceptible to drowning.
