AN eight-year-old boy was yesterday found dead on the roof of the Smal Street Mall in central Johannesburg.

AN eight-year-old boy was yesterday found dead on the roof of the Smal Street Mall in central Johannesburg.

The boy's father, Tokelo Mofokeng of Ennerdale, south of Johannesburg, said he did not know how his son ended up on the mall's roof.

"He left home to go to church with his aunt and his younger sister on Sunday," the traumatised father said. "The children did not come back home."

Mofokeng said he got a call while he was at work in Pretoria that his children were missing.

"I rushed back home and found the police, pastors and other churchgoers looking for them," he said. "I don't know what happened but my sister-in-law said my son and daughter, and another girl wanted to go to the toilet. They did not come back," he said.

The church is on the 16th floor of the Kine Centre.

It is alleged that the boy fell from the 16th floor onto the roof of the parking lot.

Johannesburg emergency management services spokesperson Percy Morokane said the boy was found at about 9am with multiple body injuries.

The two girls were found earlier on the 18th floor of the building.

They were unharmed but distressed. The children were reported missing at the Johannesburg Central police station.

Mofokeng said though he did not blame his sister-in-law, he thought she had been negligent.

"She let little children go to the toilet on their own. She also knew that they were in the building for the first time," he said.

He said the other rooms in the building had no lighting.

"I suspect they got lost and were frightened. I think he tried to jump."