Swimming outing turns tragic as four kin drown
Mourners carry the bodies of three children before they were buried in Zanzibar yesterday. The deceased drowned in Dar es Salaam on Monday. PHOTO | MOHAMED KHAMIS
What you need to know:
The four, all teenagers, together with over 40 others from the same clan, decided to have good time together by going swimming
Dar es Salaam. What was meant to be a leisurely outing ended grievously for three members of the same family and their relative at Tandika-Majaribio in the city on Sunday when they all died in puzzling circumstances.
The four - all teenagers - together with over 40 others from the same clan, decided to have a good time together.
Khalfan Said, 17; Jalila Said, 15; and Rummani Said, 14 - all children of Said Saleh Omar - along with others from the same clan left their parents’ homes for Bamba Beach at Kigamboni where they were to have some fun.
They reached the area at around 1pm and after eating and playing football, it was time for them to get swimming lessons. Never did they fathom that the swimming lessons would end their precious lives, along with that of Mariam Ramadhani, 14.
Explaining how the accident occurred, Mr Ansar Mohammed - who is an uncle to Khalfan, Jalila and Rummani - said that, after the swimming lessons, the deceased girls, along with some of the colleagues, started playing football at a place of low tide. It was while they were still playing football when the tide rose and swept the three girls along with some of their fellow swimmers.
“As some of us were swimming, we heard them crying out for help. We rushed to the scene while also asking for help. Two passersby joined us - but it was too late for the three girls and the boy,” he said.
Khalfan was at a safe distance, and he went to help save his younger sisters and colleagues - not realising that doing this would ultimately cost his life.
“Having managed to bring them ashore, we tried what we could do but after reaching the hospital, they were pronounced dead,” he said. For Said Saleh Omar, the accident reminds him that one day, everyone will die in ways that remain the secret of Allah (God).
“I have nobody to blame. It was an accident. I thank Allah for everything that happened,” he said.
Khalfan was a student at Istiqaama Secondary School in Pemba, while Jalila studied at Tandika Secondary School in Dar es Salaam. Rummani was studying at Tandika Primary School while Mariam was attending Chanjamjawili Primary School in Pemba.
