An 11-month-old baby drowned in a bucket last Tuesday, while in the care of an aunt who also looks after two other children.
According to Kelebogile Trom, Ikageng SAPS spokesperson, the woman was busy cleaning the house while the three children were asleep in the bedroom.
“Then she went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. After a few minutes, when she went to check on the children, she found the baby in the 25-litre bucket of water that she had used earlier to mop the floors.
The shaken aunt took the baby out of the bucket, but it was already too late to resuscitate her,” she said.
The police and emergency services arrived at the scene and declared the baby dead. “The deceased was taken to the Potchefstroom mortuary,” she said.
Trom described this as a tragic, heartbreaking accident. She urged members of the community to always ensure that they immediately remove things around the house that might be harmful babies once they have used them.
