An unattended one-year-old baby from Ngwanyana village outside Beit Bridge fell into a 20-litre bucket full of water and drowned, police have said.

Local police spokesperson Insp Tafanana Dzirutwe said the incident occurred on Sunday, at around 12:00. “A 52-year-old granny left the infant sleeping in the hut and went to the field. On her arrival from the field, she was approached by her 15-year-old nephew, who informed her about the baby´s death.

"We suspect the baby crawled from the hut to the kitchen, where he plunged into a 20-litre bucket of water and drowned,” Dzirutwe said. He added that they suspected no foul play and the local magistrate waived the post-mortem.

Dzirutwe also expressed concern over an increase in the number of drowning cases in the province. Recently, a five-year-old juvenile from Filabusi area outside the border town drowned while swimming in a flooded stream. "We continue to urge parents to keep a close eye on their children. Infants in particular should not be left unattended, to avoid the recurrence of such incidents in which lives are unnecessarily lost,” he said.