The body of a 13-year-old boy has been recovered in Orlando dam, Soweto, Joburg’s emergency medical services said on Sunday.
Joburg EMS spokesperson Xolile Khumalo said the boy was reported missing on Saturday and authorities conducted a search and rescue operation until 9pm on Sunday night.
Authorities resumed their search on Saturday morning, resulting in them recovering the body at around 11:30am.
Khumalo said that the boy was playing with two of his friends near the area and it is unclear if he fell in or was swimming in the dam.
She said the dam has no security fencing around it, and it is a place that has since been abandoned.
Khumalo said that they were cautioning residents safeguard their children as Spring starts.
“Please ensure that children do not approach abandoned buildings that are submerged in water and refrain from swimming in dams, lakes, swimming pools unsupervised,” she said.
Earlier this month, a one-year-old child accidentally fell into stagnant flood water and drowned in Cape Town.
Sinoxolo Sethi’s life was tragically cut short on August 20, 2024.
The baby was with his mother, Ntombi Sethi at their Phumla-Mqashi informal settlement home in Mfuleni when he wandered off.
Family and friends spent around three hours looking for the boy and discovered his lifeless body in the pool of water that stagnated on an open field caused by heavy rainfall in July.
IOL