A South Sudanese journalist drowned this week in a river in Yambio town, authorities and eyewitnesses said.
Matia Samuel Timatio, 34, entered the Nakpangau river alone on Wednesday evening, according to eyewitness Justin Kirima Paul. Paul told Radio Tamazuj he saw Timatio arrive on a motorcycle taxi, known locally as a bodaboda.
“I was seated at Yambio Resort Hotel when I saw a young man arrive on a bodaboda,” Paul said. “He stepped down with a small bag and walked toward the river. Moments later, he entered the water and drowned. People nearby tried to rescue him, but unfortunately, they could not.”
Timatio’s body was recovered Thursday morning. “When we arrived, many people were standing by the river, but his body was not visible,” said Emmanuel Mandela, secretary general of the Western Equatoria State branch of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan.
“We waited overnight, and this morning, a volunteer entered the water and recovered the body,” he added.
Mandela described Timatio as a committed journalist who had worked with several media houses, including VOA, before returning to his hometown after his contract ended.
“We are deeply concerned,” Mandela said, noting Timatio is the fourth journalist to die in South Sudan in recent years.
Yambio Mayor Fozia Abbas Barnaba Bangasu confirmed the death. “It is true that a young journalist who previously worked with VOA and later with Anisa FM and Yambio FM drowned,” Bangasu said. “The deceased is Matia Samuel Timatio, married and aged 34.”
Western Equatoria State Police Commissioner Maj. Gen. Phillip Madut Tong said an investigation is underway. “The police received information that the journalist entered the river by himself,” Tong said. “We are conducting investigations to establish the circumstances surrounding his death and his intentions for entering the water.”
At the time of his death, Timatio was working with government-owned Yambio FM. He had also worked for Catholic-owned Anisa FM, City Review Newspaper, Citizen Newspaper and other Juba-based radio stations.