Canoe tragedy on Shire River

Twenty-two people were still missing by the time we went to press yesterday after a canoe they were sailing in capsized at a dock called Phokera on Shire River in Nsanje District. “Detectives from Chiromo Police Post and a rescue team are at the scene as searching for the missing people continues,” Zalakoma had told us earlier Monday. She had also indicated that the…

Twenty-two people were still missing by the time we went to press yesterday after a canoe they were sailing in capsized at a dock called Phokera on Shire River in Nsanje District.

This is not the first time for dugout canoes to keel over on the river and the latest accident has sparked questions from locals in the Shire Valley district on whether authorities care about protecting lives of people crossing the river.

Nsanje Police Station Public Relations Office Agnes Zalakoma confirmed the accident Monday, saying 14 people were rescued.

“Detectives from Chiromo Police Post and a rescue team are at the scene as searching for the missing people continues,” Zalakoma had told us earlier Monday.

She had also indicated that the body of one-year-old Abraham Francis from Meja Village, Traditional Authority Mbenje in the district had been recovered.

Zalakoma said she could not divulge more information about the missing people as the search was underway.

Nsanje District Council spokesperson Robert Naeja said the people were being ferried to the Mozambican side where most of them do their farming.

“According to our sources, the incident happened between 6:30am and 7:00am. The people have complained that this is not the first time such accidents have been happening at the dock and other places in the district.

“We are still waiting for an update from the police because, as it is, we do not have the actual picture of the incident,” Naeja said.

He has urged people who use water transport to avoid boarding overloaded canoes.

Some locals whom we talked to Monday asked authorities to protect people’s lives by punishing canoe operators who overload their vessels, saying they are endangering people’s lives.

“They are after money. They don’t care about people’s lives. That is why they will load up to 30 people in a canoe that should normally carry not more than ten people,” a resident of the district, who opted not to be named, said.

He added that this is not the first time that a canoe has capsized at the dock.

In November 2021, a mob in Nsanje assaulted to death a 12-year-old canoe operator, Isaac Matchiti, after his vessel capsized on Shire River, resulting in the death of five people.

Earlier that year, 10 people from different parts of Nsanje Lalanje Constituency died after their boat capsized on the river, prompting Member of Parliament for the constituency Gladys Ganda to ask government to construct a bridge which the people could use to cross to the other side.

In December last year, five people went missing in the district after a canoe they were sailing in capsized on the same Shire River.

We did not manage to verify with authorities if the people were later found.

In 2017, two children of the same family drowned in the Shire after a canoe they were sailing in capsized on the river.