POLICE have resumed the search for a nine-year-old girl who was suspected to have drowned at the Bay Hall on New Year’s Day but was later incorrectly reported to have been reunited safely with her family.
Divers had initially searched for the bodies of the girl and a young boy, both of whom went missing in the waters off the Bay Hall at around 7pm, after lifeguards had gone off duty.
However, after hearing that the girl was safe, they searched over the weekend only for the boy, whose body washed up near the Richards Bay Ski Boat Club early Sunday morning.
When family members told police she was still missing on Monday morning, the search for the girl was resumed and has been extended to the entire harbour as well the shoreline at the beaches.
Meanwhile, a missing persons docket has been opened at the Richards Bay police station.