TO keep busy on Freedom Day on Thursday 27 April, a group of boys decided to go fishing.
The boys from Mount Moreland in the north of Durban later decided to swim in the Mdloti River just to cool off.
But it ended in tragedy after two of the friends drowned.
The bodies of the two friends, Andile Ngema (11) and Sibongokuhle Msani (12), were only recovered on Friday, 28 April.
Andile was in grade 5 and Sibongokuhle in grade 6 at Waterloo Primary School in the Waterloo area, KZN.
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The Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesman Prem Balram said attempts to recover the bodies on Thursday were abandoned due to poor lighting.
He said on Friday 28 April morning, Rusa members, IPSS Medical and Rescue Services, the SAPS Umhlali K9 search and rescue unit and Metro police divers met on the riverbank.
"The Rusa R44 helicopter was called in to conduct a low level flight to disperse Water Hyacinth that covered the search area and posed a risked to rescuers," he said.
He said police with a specialised dog entered the water on an inflatable boat while divers with oxygen tanks searched areas indicated by the K9. The bodies of both children were recovered metres away from each other.
KZN police spokesman Colonel Robert Netshiunda said Verulam police are investigating an inquest docket following an incident in which two boys, aged between 10 and 13 years, drowned in the Mdloti River on 27 April.
"It is alleged that a group of boys had gone to the river to fish and swim when they got into difficulty and drowned," he said.
