By Francis Chipalo
On a sad development , five boys of Meanwood phase 3 in Lusaka have died after drowning in the dam belonging to the Zambia National Service (ZNS).
The incident occurred on Thursday, January 8, 2026, around 10:00 hours at the Zambia National Service (ZNS) Airport Farms reserve dam in Chongwe District.
Police public relations officer, Godfrey Chilabi says investigations have indicated that on the material day, the juveniles were swimming in the ZNS reserve dam. One of them noticed that his friends were missing and had failed to resurface.
The matter was immediately reported to elders in the area, who alerted ZNS personnel and the police.
“Upon receiving the report, police officers rushed to the scene and, working jointly with ZNS personnel and members of the community from Kampansa area, conducted a search operation. During the operation, three (3) bodies were retrieved from the dam around 15:00 hours,” Chilabi has told the media in a statement.
The deceased were positively identified as follows as Divine Musopelo, aged 11, of Meanwood Phase 3, Angel Mwandila, aged 14, Daniel Mumba, aged 10, all of the same area.
He said the search operation continued into the early hours of today, January 9, 2026, during which two (2) additional bodies were retrieved from the same dam. The two were identified as Nkusechela Sakala, aged 9, and Chikumbutso Banda, aged 14. This brings the total number of fatalities to five.
“Police have since opened an inquiry file into the matter. The scene was processed, and all five bodies have been deposited at Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital Mortuary, awaiting postmortem examinations and subsequent burial,” he added.