A grim discovery of another body, not far from where a human skeleton was found last month, has baffled police.
The human remains are believed to be those of a child aged between four and six.
For now, police are investigating whether or not the two cases are linked.
“But it needs to be made clear that at this stage, there’s no link between the two cases, but we will investigate what happened in the latest discovery,” spokeswoman Hazel Mqala said.
The body was found floating in a manhole not far from the East London Fleet Street police station, still dressed in a blue T-shirt with a yellow-and-red print on the front.
Mqala said the remains had been found by construction workers while cleaning sewer holes.
The skull of the skeleton was missing.
Mqala said an inquest docket had been opened and the remains taken to the government mortuary.
She said more investigations would be conducted and DNA tests would be done to determine gender, exact age and when the child might have died or the exact cause of death.
A police source said several vagrants lived in the vicinity where the two bodies had been found.
“We are not ruling out that the two cases might be related or that we might get more skeletons in the area.
“This area needs to be combed thoroughly.”
When the Dispatch arrived at the scene, the forensic unit had not yet arrived to fetch the skeleton.
Not far from the scene, curious bystanders looked at the crime scene while some took pictures from a distance.
Mqala said there had been no missing child case reported to their station that fitted the description of the child.
Last month, a human skeleton was found in the same area not far from the East London police station.
The discovery was made by Buffalo City Metro grass cutters working in the area.
The skull was found about a metre from the rest of the body, which was in a bush.
There was a large hole on the side of the skull‚ although it is unclear at this stage whether this had caused the death.
Police are calling for anyone who is missing relatives to come forward. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
Skeleton of child found in EL centre
The human remains are believed to be those of a child aged between four and six.
For now, police are investigating whether or not the two cases are linked.
“But it needs to be made clear that at this stage, there’s no link between the two cases, but we will investigate what happened in the latest discovery,” spokeswoman Hazel Mqala said.
The body was found floating in a manhole not far from the East London Fleet Street police station, still dressed in a blue T-shirt with a yellow-and-red print on the front.
Mqala said the remains had been found by construction workers while cleaning sewer holes.
The skull of the skeleton was missing.
Mqala said an inquest docket had been opened and the remains taken to the government mortuary.
She said more investigations would be conducted and DNA tests would be done to determine gender, exact age and when the child might have died or the exact cause of death.
A police source said several vagrants lived in the vicinity where the two bodies had been found.
“We are not ruling out that the two cases might be related or that we might get more skeletons in the area.
“This area needs to be combed thoroughly.”
When the Dispatch arrived at the scene, the forensic unit had not yet arrived to fetch the skeleton.
Not far from the scene, curious bystanders looked at the crime scene while some took pictures from a distance.
Mqala said there had been no missing child case reported to their station that fitted the description of the child.
Last month, a human skeleton was found in the same area not far from the East London police station.
The discovery was made by Buffalo City Metro grass cutters working in the area.
The skull was found about a metre from the rest of the body, which was in a bush.
There was a large hole on the side of the skull‚ although it is unclear at this stage whether this had caused the death.
Police are calling for anyone who is missing relatives to come forward. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
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