Search continues for boy washed away by floodwater in August Town

The police and residents of August Town, St Andrew this morning resumed their search for nine-year-old Kyle Richards who was washed away by a raging torrent yesterday afternoon.

The team is searching the Hope River, adjacent to the Harbour View Bridge, to locate his body.

Using their cellphones to provide lighting, scores of residents scoured through the gully that leads to Hope River yesterday in an effort to locate Richards.

According to police reports, the young boy, who attends the Hope Valley Experimental School, was in the company of his aunt and three other children when he was swept away by the current.

The police indicated that they received a report about the missing boy around 3:45 p.m. and a search mission was then launched.

“Information received is that the aunt of the child was taking them home from school and they took a shortcut which leads to Gold Smith Villa. The aunt had two of the children in her arms, another in front of her and Kyle was at the back. He was playing in the water by the culvert and she told him to stop and come on and by the time she turned around, he was swept away," Inspector Claudia Bailey-Finlayson told the Jamaica Star.

"Since the incident was reported, we have been searching the entire gully that starts at Mona Road and ends in the Hope River along with residents, the political representative and the fire brigade. We are doing a really extensive search that stretches as far as Harbour View and Bull Bay and the marine police are also on board," she said.

Sections of the island, including the Corporate Area, have been impacted by heavy rain for the past few days.

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