Search continues for missing child in Voëlklip cliff tragedy

The search for a missing two-year-old girl resumed on Friday after the vehicle her mother was driving plunged down the notorious Voëlklip cliff near Herold's Bay in the Western Cape on Thursday.

But by Friday afternoon the child had not yet been found.

Southern Cape police spokesperson Capt Malcolm Pojie said members of the SAPS search and rescue diving unit, together with members of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), resumed the search for the girl on Friday morning but had no positive results by the afternoon.

“All units are at the scene and the search is ongoing. We have even made use of a drone to help assist the members.”

He said the police did not want to speculate about the cause of the accident as investigations were ongoing.

In a statement on Thursday ER24 said the mother and her two children had been travelling along Voëlklip Road when the vehicle overturned and plunged down the steep cliff.

The 34-year-old mother was killed while her eight-year-old son was flung out of the vehicle and miraculously escaped unscathed with minor injuries.

Pojie said the boy landed on a dirt road and managed to walk towards the road and flag down a passer-by who then alerted authorities.

“He is recouping well — he is in the care of his father — and didn't require any further medical attention other than a check-up at hospital on Thursday. He remains traumatised.” 

With only a few hours of daylight left, the police may well call off the search and resume on Saturday morning.

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