By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Six youths from the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) churches from the Lusaka Conference have drowned in Lake Kariba.
A joint team of Siavonga Town Council Fire Brigade and the state police have retrieved five of the six bodies.
Siavonga Town Council Public Relations Officer Gwendolyn Mchenga confirmed in a statement that the incident happened January 1, 2021 around 16:00 hours.
Ms Mchenga said the youths who had visited the district for a seven-day youth conference meeting which commenced on December 26,2021 to January 1,2022 met their after they went swimming in the lake shore of Lake Kariba.
She has identified the victims who are aged between 18 and 23 as Goodson Hamaila – John Laing Main Church (John Laing Mission District) , Niza Muchiliba Los Angeles (Kanyama Mission District), Zebron Shitambo – John Laing Central (John Laing Mission District), Ronald Libuku – John Laing North (John Laing Mission District).
Others are Rodwell Chileshe – John Laing (John Laing Mission District) and Allan Mwaanga from Kanyama.
“As a Local Authority I would like to commend our Fire Brigade lead by the Divisional Fire Officer Maliwanda Sikalangwe and his team, the state police and the Siavonga Seventh day Adventist church youth team for responding with utmost urgency and managing to retrieve the five bodies which were later deposited at Siavonga District Hospital Mortuary,” she said.
Meanwhile the search for the remaining body of Mwaanga will continue today Sunday, January 2, 2022.
