The Worcester police are searching for the missing body of a 7-year-old boy who apparently drowned.
According to Warrant Officer Vathiswa Jacobs, spokesperson for the Worcester police, the child probably drowned while his mother was crossing a dam with him on her back.
“The woman travelled from Gqeberha by bus and disembarked at the filling station on the N1,” she said. “She was meant to go to Ceres. She got off the bus on Monday 13 February and stayed there the whole day. The next day, the 14th, she and her son went to a nearby farm on the old N1, where they stayed in the bushes until Saturday 18 February.”
Furthermore, Jacobs said, the woman went looking for a road that would lead to Ceres when the incident occurred.
“According to the mother she was carrying the child on her back while crossing the dam in her search for a road. While in the water her son slipped off her back and into the water, but she managed to grab onto him and get them both out of the water.
“The mother was apparently also struggling to wade through the water. Once they were out of the water she saw her son wasn’t breathing and tried to resuscitate him.
She said water was coming from the boy’s mouth while she was doing this.”
The woman then decided to go and look for help.
“By the time she came back with help the boy was not where she had left him. The police station was contacted and a search for the boy immediately ensued.”
Police divers scoured the water while a drone was also employed in trying to track down the boy.
“They have been searching every day since Saturday, but the boy is still missing,” Jacobs said on Tuesday afternoon.
She also mentioned workers on the farm had seen the boy a few days prior to the incident as he had been walking around asking for food.
She asks that anyone with information that can help the police locate the boy is asked to speak to the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Nomviwo Mdlulwa. She can be contacted on 023 346 5800 or 082 335 0656.
