Frantic search ends in tears

A five-year-old boy was found dead last night, after drowning in his father's employer's swimming pool in Linden, Johannesburg.

Andre Snyman of eblockwatch, a network of neighbourhood watches, police task teams, and police reservists, told The Times the child had been playing in the garden of the property when he disappeared. The boy's father, who works there as a gardener, reported him missing and a search involving about 50 people was launched.

Snyman said: ''The search drew blanks, but somebody decided to go back to the house and found the body in the pool. The house owner and father are pretty distraught, and the mother still doesn't know what happened.'' The child's body was discovered at about 10pm.