Tragedy struck in the community of Hillshaven when a five-year-old toddler drowned at the local public swimming pool.

According to the caretaker at the Hillshaven public swimming pool, Frederick Dobson, the incident occurred on Saturday.

“The toddler and his two brothers visited the pool to enjoy the cool water on the heat of the day. The toddler was placed in the baby pool and the oldest brother was supposed to look after him, but got distracted. The toddler wandered off to the big pool to play with his other brother,” says Dobson.

Dobson says the toddler jumped into the pool and unfortunately no one noticed him. By the time Dobson saw the body in the pool it was too late.

“My wife and I immediately took the boy out of the water and tried to resuscitate him. We continued with CPR for about an hour after which medical personnel from Netcare 911 took control of the scene,” Dobson explains.

After about 45 minutes Netcare 911 declared that the boy has passed away.

“All of us did everything in our power to save the kid’s life, but it was to no avail,” says Dobson.

He adds that the Westonaria Police responded quickly to the scene; but numerous attempts by the Randfontein/ Westonariaherald to get comment from the police were futile because the station has no spokesperson – this after the journalist was referred to several officers and officials.

Related articles:

• Toddler, mom and grandmother dies in R559 smash