Eastern Cape authorities were on Thursday continuing their search for a 10-year-old boy who is suspected to have drowned while trying to cross a flooded river in Port St Johns on Tuesday.

The district municipality said rescuers had indicated they would not be deterred by the high water that has been hampering their search-and-rescue efforts.

“The K9 unit has confirmed to the MEC (of co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Xolile Nqatha) that they are going to start the search even though the water is still very high. The likelihood is that the young boy has been swept into Umzimvubu River,” said OR Tambo district municipality spokesperson Zimkhita Macingwane.

Nqatha on Thursday paid a visit to various homes and communities that have been affected by the torrential rains that have caused havoc in different parts of Port St Johns since Tuesday. 

Macingwane said the municipality had noted that there were three people injured as a result of incidents linked to the downpour. One person was an elderly local who suffered a broken limb when mud houses collapsed.

“We continue to monitor the situation. The disaster and risk management teams are on site collecting data.

“A major challenge is network connectivity so we are unable to get in touch with everyone but we have asked community members to submit their lists to the ward councillors for them to be consolidated,” she said.

The local municipality offices were among the buildings that were flooded this week, along with the local museum.

Nqatha visited the Green Farm area which, according to Macingwane “is the worst affected area in Port St Johns in terms of the number of households that have been affected and the people who had to leave their homes,” Macingwane said.

“We will keep our eyes on the situation throughout the Easter weekend as we are expecting a wet weekend,” she said.

TimesLIVE