20 Nov 2019

Tatitown police and residents of Borolong have launched a search for a missing 18-month-old girl, who is suspected to have fallen into Shashe River after a heavy down pour on Tuesday afternoon.

The missing girl’s brother aged five, was discovered in a stream that passes through the village, leading to suspicion that the girl might have also fallen into the stream that connects to the Shashe River.

Tatitown Police Station commander, Superintendent Edward Leposo, who is also in the search team, said in an interview that they received a report on November 19 around 4pm that 'something' that looked like a person was seen floating in the stream.

He said the police rushed to the scene and found that indeed it was a five-year-old boy, whom they took to the hospital, where he was certified dead. 

Superintendent Leposo said while at the scene, the mother identified the victim as her son, whom she had left with his younger sister, when she went to the shops. 

He said the police then mounted a search for the missing girl, which had to be called-off around 7pm, owing to darkness.

Superintended Leposo further stated that today (Nov 20) the public joined the search along the riverbanks and the stream but to no avail.

He said for now Shashe River bed was the central focus of the search, but a number of different waterways are also being examined.

Superintendent Leposo said this was the second incident of this kind in his area of jurisdiction since the beginning of this year, as a similar incident happened in Chadibe, where the body of a boy was retrieved from the same river three weeks ago. Ends