Missing five year-old boy found dead in Lhaviyani Atoll

Police have said that a five year-old boy reported missing from Naifaru in Lhaviyani Atoll has been found dead this morning as investigations continue into the exact cause of death.

The Maldives Police Service said that the child’s body was discovered at 1:20am today in the lagoon of Naifaru. The boy has since been identified by law enforcement officials as Hassan Javid Ibrahim of Muleeha house in Naifaru.

Officers from the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the police joined islanders in searching for the boy after his family reported that he had gone missing at 1:30pm.

Search teams began searching the island’s lagoon for the boy after the child’s slippers were discovered drifting in the local waters at about 4:15pm, police have said.

An islander from Naifaru who spoke to Minivan News on condition of anonymity said that the boy’s mother was believed to have sent the child to the island’s harbour to see if his dad returned from fishing.  The islander said that the boy did not return.

According to the source, the child was last seen at 3pm the same day near the harbour area of the island, where it had been raining at the time.

The islander said they believed that the person who had saw the child may not have known at the time that he was missing, or perhaps did not understand the severity of the situation.

The same source claimed that once the body of the child had been recovered, there appeared to be no visible injuries.

With investigations into the case continuing, Police  Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef today told Minivan News that it was not yet possible to speculate on the potential cause of death.

“We will inform the media after concluding the investigation,’’ said Haneef.