A 15-year-old boy, Thiol Jongkoor, drowned and died over the weekend while trying to cross floodwaters in the Majak-Baai Village of Aweil North County in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State local authorities there have confirmed. 

Aweil North County police inspector, Santino Garang, confirmed the Saturday incident and said a post-mortem concluded the deceased died of drowning. 

“Yes, it is true, it happened in Majak-Baai, a 15-years-old boy called Thiol Jongkoor Bukich drowned and died in a pond in Majak-Baai. He was in the company of two other children aged 7 and 5 years old. There are no charges brought against anybody because these are children,” Garang said.

Garang Majok, the Majak-Baai area chief confirmed the death saying the deceased and other children went to a nearby pond and he asked the other children to wait for him as he tested the depth of the water.

“The boy was walking together with two other children and he told them to wait for him as he assessed the depth of the water and that he would call them to follow him if it was safe or that he would return if it was not safe. When that boy went into the water he did not return. He drowned,” Majok said.

Willian Deng Mou, the Aweil North County executive director, William Deng Mou said the boy was buried in Gokmachar.

The county health department official Willian Ather said they carried out thorough investigations and it was found out that drowning was the main reason for the death.