13-year-old boy went missing after suspectedly falling into Kallang River, body retrieved after extensive two-day search

SINGAPORE: Unfortunate news transpired when a 13-year-old boy allegedly fell into the Kallang River, and authorities have not yet found him even after hours of search and rescue. 

As reported by 8world, police authorities confirmed that they received news of a suspected drowning incident at the Kallang River on Feb 25. It was believed that the missing boy was fishing with his friends before the accident happened. 

With this, they launched a joint search-and-rescue operation with the Civil Defence Force, and preliminary investigations revealed no criminal activity was involved in the event. 

The Civil Defence Force stated that, after receiving the report, the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) was dispatched to search the water at the very location where the missing boy was last found. However, after hours of searching, the operation has been suspended for safety reasons because of reduced visibility at night. 

Continuing the search and rescue operations the next day, Feb 26, the authorities and civil defence team searched the area for approximately 12 hours, but still no traces of the boy were found. They started with the search at around 7 a.m and ended at 7 p.m. 

The authorities declared that they will continue to closely monitor the situation and will still conduct regular patrols around the area. 

Channel News Asia reported that, after extensive searches, the body of the missing boy was retrieved and pronounced dead right there and then. The Singapore Police Force shared: “At about 10:35 p.m, the police received a call for assistance regarding a body found floating in the Kallang River…Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play, and investigations are ongoing.” 

On social media, netizens expressed their thoughts and opinions on what happened. One netizen commented: “These few days have been raining heavily. I can envision the river flow must’ve been very heavy and strong…” 

Another netizen remarked: “Condolences. If only authorities allows fishing, all these suss pockets of areas will have at least one angler who could have raised the alarm sooner or helped. With anglers around, less suss activities.”