Boy, 13, dies after being thrown into river over £40 debt
Abdou Ngom, 13, was allegedly thrown into the Tanaro River in Verduno, Piedmont region, Italy, after he and four boys travelled there from their homes in a nearby town to spend time at a riverside beach.
The Juvenile Prosecutor's Office in Turin has reportedly charged one of the teenagers with voluntary manslaughter. He is currently confined to house arrest.
Police interrogations revealed he may have acted to take back €50 (£40) Abdou owed him.
One boy told police: 'Abdou said he couldn't swim, but the other guy grabbed him and threw him in the water.'
Despite the good weather on April 21, the day Abdou was allegedly thrown in, the river was treacherous. Rescuers abandoned their search after a week.
Abdou, who was born in Italy and is of Senegalese descent, leaves behind his mother, father, two brothers and sister.
His father, Khadim, told local media: 'He dreamed of becoming a footballer and played for Bra first, then for the team in Roreto, Cherasco.
'But he couldn't swim. Unfortunately, I wasn't home that day, and he left without telling his mum where he was going. Otherwise, we would never have let him go to the river with those friends.
'I hope this breakthrough in the investigation will at least lead to the search for my Abdou being restarted. I just want them to let us bury his body and have a grave where we can mourn him.'
His family plan to send his body back to Senegal to be buried, once officials find it.
The news of Abdou's death comes just months after a teenage boy died after being buried alive when a sand tunnel he was digging on a beach in Italy suddenly caved in.
The 17-year-old, named locally as Riccardo B., was on holiday with his family when tragedy struck on the popular Montalto di Castro beach, near the border of the Tarquinia region in north-west Italy.
Riccardo had been playing in the sand, carving out a tunnel that he intended to crawl through from one side to the other.
But as he passed through the centre, the structure gave way without warning, swallowing him whole and leaving no trace on the surface.
A swimmer who witnessed the horror said: 'He had built a tunnel. He wanted to enter from one side and exit from the other.
'But as he passed through, when he reached the centre, everything collapsed and the hole was completely covered.
'You couldn't see anything anymore; you could have walked right through it and not noticed a thing.'
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