Africa-Press – Eswatini. A family is mourning the loss of a six-year-old girl after she was accidentally shot and killed by her seven-year-old cousin with a pallet gun.
The incident, which marked a terrible start of the New Year for the Nkambule family, happened at Elawini community last Friday evening.
Elawini is at Ekutsimleni Chiefdom, which is under Mkhiweni Constituency.
The girl was shot once in the chest at close range with the gun, which was allegedly removed from the safe by one of the family’s older children without permission
Narrating the incident that claimed the young life of Sphe Nkambule was her distraught paternal grandfather, Elliot Nkambule, who said the child was killed at around 6pm on the fateful day.
Nkambule said the girl was playing with her male cousin who is only seven years old when they came across a loaded pellet gun that had been left by an older member of the family.
The elderly man said the elder, who he said carelessly left the loaded firearm had just returned from hunting for birds.
The children were said to have been playing when they came across the gun, which was loaded lying idle in the yard and the boy reportedly got excited and picked it up.
He is said to have emulated his elders whom he sometimes saw hunt birds as he pointed the gun at his cousin and pulled the trigger and hit her in the chest.
On hearing the gunshots, family members who were within the compound rushed to find out what was happening only to be met by the gruesome incident.
Nkambule said he was in the fields and only responded to the sound of the gunshot.
“He shot her at close range, so one shot in her chest was the end of her,” stated Nkambule.
The senior citizen said the incident shocked not only the family, but the whole community too, as the news of the fatal shooting spread like wildfire. Also, he said the incident hit him hard more so because both the minors were his grandchildren as their fathers are siblings.
Although Nkambule, as well as the fathers of the children acknowledged that this was an accident, he stated that it did not ease the pain of losing the minor.
“The accident was caused by the carelessness of my other son who left the loaded gun where the children could reach it. It was a careless mistake,” he said.
After the incident, Nkambule said the gun was confiscated by the police.
When asked where the gun was usually kept, Magolwane Dlamini, who is a relative to the Nkambules, said it was stolen by one of Nkambule’s sons from its safe at a farm where the senior citizen was employed to look after cattle.
Dlamini said Nkambule and his son had been fetching some firewood on the day that the firearm was stolen.
“When Nkambule’s son returned home with the gun, he left it leaning against a wall of one of the houses where the minors found it,” explained Dlamini.
Following this incident, Dlamini added that the seven-year-old needs to undergo counselling because as young as he is, this might affect him mentally. The boy was said to have been shaken by the incident.
“I hope he’ll receive the counselling he needs in due course. The police said they were still working on this matter,” stated Dlamini.
On another note, Nkambule mentioned that the family was destitute and had no means to cater for the burial of Sphe. Therefore, he appealed to members of the public to assist in whatever way possible so that the family could have a dignified burial of the minor. Anyone who may want to assist the Nkambule family may contact mkhulu Elliot Nkambule on 7641 1637.
The incident was confirmed by Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati.
It is not clear at this point if anyone will face charges.
The Nkambule family is not the first to lose a young family member due to accidental shooting.
An almost similar incident once happened at Coates Valley in Manzini where a teenager was accidentally shot dead by his relative. Roberta Paiva (19), who was a pupil at Enjabulweni High School, was shot allegedly by a family member who was reportedly playing with a loaded firearm back in 2019.
It was reported that the gun, a pump-action shotgun whose safety button was not switched on, was in the possession of a 10-year-old when it incidentally went off. The gun, which is licensed, belonged to one of the Paiva family members.
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