Walls falls on baby in Balaka, dies: 2 killed in Mangochi after house collapses

 A two year old baby has died in Balaka after a house which she was sleeping in fall due to a hailstorm that occurred in the area Friday evening.

Balaka District had for the past five days been receiving excessive rains accompanied by wind.

In an interview with the mother of the deceased baby, Dorothy Mauwa, 28, identified the deceased as Emmanuella Bwekere and said it all happened Friday around 10 pm when it was raining heavily.

She said: ” I used to stay with my mother and sisters as a family, but due to the rains, three of the houses around our household fell down which included my house, my brother’s  and that of my uncle.

“Due to the fact that the other houses which withstood the rains were small, I thought of going somewhere to rent a house.”

According to Mauwa, she only took the deceased with her to the rented house leaving her other three children with her mother because the house she rented was small.

“I moved to the new house Thursday and I slept together with my baby this day. On Friday around 10 pm, the house fell on her in the sitting room where I placed her on the mat as I went to our bedroom to prepare her sleeping space.

“Together with neighbors we tried to rescue her and rushed her to the hospital but she was pronounced dead upon reaching the hospital. She sustained serious head injuries,” the motherpointed out.

The body of the deceased was laid to rest on Saturday in Balaka.

The late Emmanuelle hail from Samati Village, Traditional Authority (TA) Amidu in Balaka.

Another fatality

In Mangochi, two people have been confirmed dead after a wall of the house they were sleeping in collapsed on them during the early hours of Sunday following heavy rainfal,  Police and the District Commissioner have confirmed the incident.

The two, Patuma Welemu, 53, and Rose Ayami, 6, were from Nsinje Village, Group Village Headman Michesi, in Senior Chief Mponda area, according to a brief disaster report shared by Mangochi District Commissioner (DC) Reverend Moses Chimphepo.

“There was heavy rain in the area throughout the night when the incident occurred. The two were rushed to Koche Hospital where they were confined dead,” the DC’s brief report stated.

The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) confirmed the incident Sunday afternoon and that the Minister of Homeland Security, Nicholas Dausi, is expected to attend the funeral ceremony of the two on Monday.

“The Minister is expected to arrive in Mangochi at 7:30am. After the ceremony, the Minister will proceed to Balaka District, where he will visit families affected by flash floods,” DoDMA Public Relations Officer, Chipiliro Khamula said on Sunday.

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