Scene of a lake where a man drowned in Rumbek. (Photo: Yang Ater).

An activist has encouraged Lakes State government to fence off excavated murram sites after a young man who had just set for the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) examination drowned in a deep pool of stagnant water on 4th December.

The victim – 21-year-old Laat Dut Theem – reportedly drowned in a murram excavated site in Rumbek, according to the state’s police spokesperson, Maj. Elijah Mabor Makuach.

Maj. Makuach said the deceased remains were recovered on Saturday when the body floated to surface of the water following three days of fruitless search.

The police official said the trench where the young man drowned is wide and dangerously deep.

“We went to the scene and we found out the hole was really very big and it is a pit according to the residents of that area who knows the place. We have waited until this morning at around 6:00 AM when the body appeared floating on water,” he narrated.

“The body appeared and it was found it was pinned down because there is too much mud inside the holes and when body appeared it was found covered all with mud.”

Mr. Mabor said the incident was not the first of its kind. He said several children had drowned in deep water especially in construction lakes filled with flood water along the Juba-Rumbek highway.

“These cases always happen since road construction started. There are so holes being dug by road construction company and there is no proper protection and now it has become common all the time, children are dying whenever they tried to go in such places.”

He said many cases were registered in such pits previously dug to build the highway in the direction of Awerial and Malou-pech.

“It is really very dangerous and I advise people because there is no any other alternative, and the parents should take care of their children to advise their children not play in water at such places because it is really very dangerous.”

Reacting to the incident, the state Coordinator for Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, Daniel Laat Kon, blamed the incident on the unprotected construction pits.

He said two children died in a similar manner last year due to unsealed road construction-induced holes.

Mr. Laat called on the authorities to fence off the excavated sites to protect children from drowning in the stagnated pools of water.

“We have been engaging these communities, and the government to make sure that during the road construction, such holes that are dug far away from people’s residential areas.”

“They should also be protected by putting a wire fence around so that to protect children from going there. This is the case of what happened when we lost 2 kids last year, and now again the same incident happened.”

“We need to take care of our children, we need to make sure that when there is such holes being dug by a construction company.”