The recovery of the body of a nine-year-old boy from a Ndwedwe river yesterday and the passing of a boy (11) in hospital after he fell into a pool in Palm Lakes near Ballito, has pushed the death toll of children drowning in KZN to four over the past two weeks.

IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson, Samantha Meyrick, says the nine-year-old was swimming with friends in the river on Wednesday when he disappeared.

“Search efforts began as soon as the incident was reported at 17:00 and continued into the early hours of the morning,” says Meyrick.

The search, which included a SAPS K9 Search and Rescue team, resumed yesterday morning and the boy’s body was recovered and handed over to the Ndwedwe SAPS.

The 11-year-old, who was rescued from a pool in Palm Lakes Estate near Ballito on Wednesday, passed away overnight.

While visiting relatives in the estate, Mvelo (the family requested that his surname be withheld) was swimming at the Dragonfly Pool when he got into difficulty in the deep end.

It was initially speculated that he might have hit his head while diving, but it has since been established that this was not the case.

“He was swimming towards the steps when he became fatigued and sank underwater. There were other kids in the pool, but they were unfortunately not aware of how dangerous the situation was,” says estate security manager Steven Gomes.

Mvelo was underwater for approximately three minutes before being pulled out by bystanders, including a doctor and nurse, who did CPR until paramedics arrived.

Medi Response KZN paramedics were able to jump-start circulation and restart the boy’s heart before he was rushed to hospital.

Unfortunately, it was too late and Mvelo passed away.

Wednesday’s drowning incidents follow two other tragedies that took place in the past fortnight – a 15-year-old who drowned in a dam near Stanger and a 14-year-old who drowned in the Mvoti River.