Awerial County authorities say they are investigating a body of unidentified man that they found floating in Yiil River on Tuesday.
The County Commissioner, Philip Mawut, says the body was seen floating face down at 6am by a passerby, who then alerted his office.
According to the commissioner, the deceased person has not been identified by name and his relatives are not known either.
“He might wanted to cross but ended up drowning. The body was then carried away by water until it was stopped by the culverts and reed,” Mawut told Mingkaman FM.
However, it is not clear whether he drowned or killed somewhere and the body dumped in the river.
The county medical officer James Manyiel Agup, says they cannot check the body for any postmortem because it has started to decay.
“But what can be done at a health facility is identification of what might have contributed to the death of the person, whether there was some medical condition like epilepsy or traces of torture,” he explained.
The body was later buried at Yiil village as instructed by the authorities but the cause of his death is not yet known.