Rescuers search for missing girl and man at the canal in the Vygieskraal informal settlement. Image: Radio786/Facebook

Vygieskraal father hoping for closure after daughter's body retrieved from river

Eight-year-old Abieba Paulse fell into a canal while playing with friends and Yusuf Kiriboto jumped into the water to try to save her but they were both swept away.

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CAPE TOWN - An Athlone community is reeling after the bodies of two locals were found in the Black River.

An 8-year-old girl and a man disappeared in a canal that runs through the area following heavy rains several weeks ago.

Abieba Paulse's body was found on Monday while Yusuf Kiriboto's was spotted and retrieved on Tuesday.

Paulse's father, Michael Steenkamp, is heartbroken.

But at the same time, he's relieved that his daughter's body has been found and the family can now try find some closure.

Steenkamp said that the child's mother identified her body at the mortuary yesterday.

Vygieskraal informal settlement community leader Moegamat Salie Davids accompanied the brothers of Yusuf Kiriboto to a section of the river yesterday, where they spotted the man's body.

He said that they immediately recognised him.

"They recognised him by his clothes because I asked: 'Are you sure that's the body of your brother?' And they said yes, they recognised the jacket he last had on."

The 8-year-old girl fell into the canal while playing with friends and Kiriboto jumped into the water to try save her but they were both swept away.

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