Missing boy’s body found

THE body of a 12-year-old boy who went missing in a river at Verulam, north of Durban, was recovered, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

“An inquest docket will be opened at Verulam police station,” said Colonel Thulani Zwane.

Private emergency response company Reaction Unit SA (Rusa) said the body of the child, who drowned in Temple Valley on Saturday, was recovered against a sandbank near a water treatment plant on Valley View Drive yesterday.

Rusa received a call around 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon from a resident in the area requesting assistance “after a child arrived at her home claiming that his friend had drowned in a river separating Temple Valley from Coniston”, the company said.

“Reaction officers proceeded to the location and interviewed the child, who stated that they were on their way to play soccer at the Verulam recreational grounds when one his friends experienced difficulty while crossing a river and drowned.”

Reaction officers entered the water and searched for the child until the arrival of the police’s search and rescue team. The search was called off on Saturday due to the increasing water levels and the heavy current.

Yesterday morning police divers and lifeguards from the Ethekwini municipality entered the water using canoes, and discovered the body of the Verulam Primary School pupil about 300m away from where he was last seen, the statement said. |