A trip by a Sexaxa family from their cattle post in Xakanyane near Maun ended tragically at the weekend as a family lost two of their children to drowning in the Thamalakane river.
A 10-year-old standard four pupil at Sekgoma Primary School pupil also died in the incident, which took place last Saturday at around 7pm.
Maun Police Station Commander, Kenny Badumetse, said initially there were a total of eleven people who wanted to cross the river from Boseja to Maun that evening.
A first batch of five people succeeded, while the remaining drowned after their hand-made boat capsized, probably because of overloading. Badumetse said the eyewitness, who also happens to be the owner of the boat, told police that after ferrying the first group, he then handed the boat to the father of the dead children to go and collect his family who had remained on the other side of the river, but that never happened as he seemed to be unfamiliar with the operations of thesaid boat.