A 10-year-old boy has been found floating face down in a dam after he missed his school bus.
Police say the body of little Kyle Harris was found in an overflow dam in Lords Walk Road, Greenville in Durbanville, on Wednesday afternoon.
His ouma Sarah Harris, 68, believes if Kyle had been in time for his bus, he would have been safe at school instead of swimming with his friends in the dam.
“He missed the bus because he went to go buy sweets at the shop. I was very surprised when he came home just after 9am on Wednesday,” the hartseer granny says.
“He stayed at home watching TV for a few hours and then he left. I didn’t even notice he was gone. Later on, a girl came to tell us that Kyle had drowned.”
GRIEF: Ouma Sarah Harris
Police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, confirms: “According to reports, on Wednesday at about 4pm, three boys went for a swim in an overflow dam in Lords Walk Road, Greenville, Durbanville.
“The dam is an enclosed area, but they gained entry through an opening. The three boys decided to swim to the other side of the dam but in the middle of the dam, the one boy got tired, and went under the water and drowned.
“His body was retrieved by police divers. The deceased, a 10-year-old, resided in Greenville, Durbanville. Victim support was given to the deceased’s family by Durbanville victim support.”
Sarah says Kyle’s traumatised mom, Larien, went to identify the child’s body at a city morgue on Thursday morning. He was the youngest of three children.
“He was still so excited about the school’s prizegiving on Wednesday night and wanted us all to be there,” the ouma adds.
A source at Kyle’s school, Aplha Primary in Morningstar, said Kyle was not up for an award although all the children were requested to be at the event.