The search for a three-month-old baby who went missing after a baptism ceremony went horribly wrong at the Jukskei River on Saturday has resumed.
Emergency services spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, said on Thursday: “A three-month-old baby remains missing and the search for the infant resumed early this morning.”
“We hope that if luck is on our side, we will recover the baby and give the family closure.”
Snenhlanhla Renge, a family member who also attended the ceremony, said the family remains hopeful that members of the search and rescue operation will find the body of the three-month-old baby.
The mother of the three-month-old baby, Lerato Masola, also lost her 51-year-old mother and three-year-old son. The devastated Masola said the family cannot plan for the burial until their bodies have been found and identified.
According to an aunt, Queen Nyumbeka, the three-month-old baby was in the pastor’s arms, who was conducting the baptism ceremony, when the raging waters swept the child away.
Nyumbeka said: “The mother is very traumatised to have lost her family members at one go, we pray that we find our baby, as we would like to arrange a joint funeral.”
It has since emerged that the pastor operated his church informally in an open field, and sometimes the worshippers would congregate at the river for a church service.
The death toll has since risen to 15, after the body of a woman was found under the bridge near the M1 highway in Sandton on Wednesday. More than 30 church members are believed to have been swept away by flash floods.
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