Six year old drowns during school outing in Shakaskraal

A school outing to Lucky Linton Farm outside Shakaskraal ended in tragedy this morning (Wednesday) when a six-year-old boy drowned in a dam on the property.

According to IPSS Medical Rescue’s Paul Herbst, several children were out on a raft in the dam at 10.30am.

“Three children fell off the raft, with one child going straight under and two others also struggling in the water,” said Herbst.

Two of the children were rescued when the man who had been taking them around the dam on the raft jumped in after them. Unfortunately he was unable to rescue the third.

When IPSS Medical Rescue paramedics arrived, two children were treated for near drownings.

The third child had reportedly been underwater for nearly ten minutes by the time bystanders pulled him out and initiated CPR. When paramedics arrived they took over but to no avail.

Also read: Tragic double drowning as family attempts rescue at Salt Rock

“IPSS Advanced Life Support paramedics immediately started attempts to resuscitate him but despite trying for over 20 minutes, he was declared dead on the scene.”

The other two children were assessed by the paramedics and remained in the care of their teachers.

Lucky Linton Farm is a former gold mine with plenty of activities and facilities for children, making it an appealing place for school tours.

The farm’s management were not available for comment at the time of going to print.

This article has been updated to reflect newer information received after the first version was published.