Durban - A nine-year-old boy died tragically while swimming with his friends in a river in the Ndwedwe area on Wednesday.
According to IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Dylan Meyrick, early on Wednesday evening IPSS Medical Rescue and IPSS Search and Rescue in conjunction with SAPS K9 Search and Rescue responded to reports of a drowning in a river in the Ndwedwe area.
Meyrick said initial reports indicated that a nine-year-old boy was swimming with friends in the river when he disappeared under the water.
“Search efforts began as soon as the incident was reported at 5pm and continued into the early hours of the morning,” he said.
He said the search continued early on Thursday morning.
“The boy's body was recovered and handed over to Ndwedwe SAPS,” said Meyrick.
Meanwhile, IOL reported that the body of a missing 5-year-old boy was found in a neighbour's pool on Thursday.
The report said Mvelo Gumede disappeared while playing in the yard at his home in Sun Crescent in Lotusville, Verulam, on Wednesday evening.
According to Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram, Mvelo, who lived with his mother in Ndwedwe, had been spending the holidays with his father.
The boy’s father contacted Rusa for assistance and a search was initiated. They searched until 2.30am on Thursday and resumed the search at dawn.
During the search, Rusa members were informed by a resident that a child was found floating in his pool approximately 50 metres from their location.
According to the report the boy is believed to have entered the yard two doors away from his home through a damaged wire-mesh fence.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) warned parents to be vigilant and guard children so that they do not swim in rivers or go near large bodies of water due to disruptive rains forecast for KZN from Thursday, January 5 to Friday, January 6.