Joburg rescue services have recovered the body of an 18-year-old Soweto teenager who was swept away in a river in Kliptown on Tuesday afternoon.

The body was recovered by City of Joburg’s Aquatic Rescue Services Unit, the Joburg Emergency Management Services and the SA Police Service (SAPS) Water Wing who were leading the search for the young boy.

Joburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi said the teen was swept away on Tuesday afternoon as he attempted to cross a river stream.

“The body of the 18-year-old who went missing after he slipped and fell in the Klipvalley river stream has been recovered by the Aquatic Rescue Services, Joburg EMS and the SAPS Water Wing,” said Mulaudzi.

“The body will be handed over to the SAPS for further investigations.”

He said they were now pleading with residents to keep a watch on young children to avoid such incidents.

“We just want to plead with our residents to look after the young kids to stay away from river streams so that we can be able to prevent incidents like this one,” he said.

The Joburg EMS said earlier that the search for the teen had to be called off on Tuesday night for safety reasons and said the search had resumed on Wednesday morning at 8am.

The incident follows a thunderous hail storm on Monday night which caused extensive damage to cars, homes and infrastructure.

There were no reported fatalities from the storm, while an insurer told IOL News on Tuesday that cars and solar panels were among the items most damaged, according to a preliminary report.

IOL News