Johannesburg - A little boy is believed to have drowned in Hartbeespoort Dam after a boat capsized at the weekend, the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Monday.
Spokesman Craig Lambinon said the toddler, who was due to turn two years old in June, had not been found since the 4.5 meter rubber duck capsized near the Eagle Waters Resort, on the southern part of the dam on Sunday.
“When the boat capsized all on board were thrown into the water and it was in fact the little boy who did not surface after disappearing under water,” he said.
Lambinon said a police dive unit was on the scene searching for the boy.
He said it appeared that a Pretoria North family were staying at a local caravan park for the weekend with friends. “They were on a friend’s boat that was towing a tube on the water with the father of the missing child and a friend riding on the tube at the time.”
“During the boat making a tight turn on the water it appears that the tube dug into the water and this may have led to the boat capsizing,” he said.
The two adults on the tube were not affected by the capsizing of the boat, Lambinon said.
ANA