Tuesday marked day nine since six-year-old Khayalethu Magadla fell into a manhole while playing with friends in Dlamini, Soweto.
It was also a day after the community joined the missing boy’s family to celebrate his birthday. He would have turned seven years.
By sunset on Tuesday, the teams from Joburg Emergency Services (EMS), which started searching for the boy last week, have still not made a breakthrough. They have since searched along the areas of Soweto, Klipspruit and Eldorado Park.
On Friday, the EMS announced that high-tech robots had been brought in to help in the search and recovery of the boy’s remains. But still, the results were not forthcoming.
EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said on Tuesday the teams have now deployed a floating device, a boat attached with an underwater camera and another camera along the pipeline that will give them a 360-degree view.
Last week, Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse visited the family and promised that the search and recovery of Khayalethu would not stop until he had been found, dead or alive.
Family spokesperson Veli Mthethwa told Sunday World last week that the parents of the boy were devastated and struggling to cope with the unfolding events.
Khayalethu was playing with friends when he jumped on the board covering the manhole. It broke into pieces and swallowed him. His scared friends only reported the incident later.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
