A toddler has gone missing in an East London forest filled with hundreds of illegal wires.
The forest search for Lihlombe Mvomvo, 2, near Stoney Drift informal settlement, was severely hampered yesterday by the deadly power connections.
“I have my dog on a leash here. It is not safe for me to release him because the area is so dangerous,” said a search and rescue officer, who is not authorised to speak to the media, yesterday.
Little Lihlombe was last seen stepping out of his mother’s shack on Monday at 5pm.
His mother Nosisa Mvomvo, 23, said when he walked out she thought he was going to play with her neighbour’s kids.
He did not return. He was wearing a sweater with blue and grey stripes, grey shorts and BEN10 flip-flops.
A distraught Mvomvo said: “Just 30 minutes later, I went to look for him at the neighbour. They said they did not see him.”
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said the single mother reported her child missing at the Cambridge police station at 6pm on Monday.
“We called out a police search and rescue team to help look for the boy on Monday, but the search was abandoned due to darkness.
“The search continued on Tuesday morning where members of the community also helped to look for the boy,” Mbi said.
DA ward councillor Marion Mackley, fearing for police and community members’ safety due to the sprawling network of illegal wires, called on Buffalo City Metro to switch off Stoney Drift’s electricity supply for an hour.
Police continued their search but could not find the boy.
“My child is not here,” Mvomvo said pointing at the forest.
She said this was the first time a child had gone missing in the area.
Police were also searching down uncovered manholes in the area.
The search was abandoned again late yesterday due to the failing daylight. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
Fears for toddler, missing near forest with deadly illegal wires
The forest search for Lihlombe Mvomvo, 2, near Stoney Drift informal settlement, was severely hampered yesterday by the deadly power connections.
“I have my dog on a leash here. It is not safe for me to release him because the area is so dangerous,” said a search and rescue officer, who is not authorised to speak to the media, yesterday.
Little Lihlombe was last seen stepping out of his mother’s shack on Monday at 5pm.
His mother Nosisa Mvomvo, 23, said when he walked out she thought he was going to play with her neighbour’s kids.
He did not return. He was wearing a sweater with blue and grey stripes, grey shorts and BEN10 flip-flops.
A distraught Mvomvo said: “Just 30 minutes later, I went to look for him at the neighbour. They said they did not see him.”
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said the single mother reported her child missing at the Cambridge police station at 6pm on Monday.
“We called out a police search and rescue team to help look for the boy on Monday, but the search was abandoned due to darkness.
“The search continued on Tuesday morning where members of the community also helped to look for the boy,” Mbi said.
DA ward councillor Marion Mackley, fearing for police and community members’ safety due to the sprawling network of illegal wires, called on Buffalo City Metro to switch off Stoney Drift’s electricity supply for an hour.
Police continued their search but could not find the boy.
“My child is not here,” Mvomvo said pointing at the forest.
She said this was the first time a child had gone missing in the area.
Police were also searching down uncovered manholes in the area.
The search was abandoned again late yesterday due to the failing daylight. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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