via Missing swimmer’s body found in the UK 23 July 2014
THE body of a Zimbabwean student who vanished Monday while swimming in the UK was recovered on Wednesday, police confirmed.
David Zikhali disappeared after getting into difficulty while swimming in the River Tees at around 7.40pm on Monday near the Infinity Bridge in Stockton, North East England.
“We had specialist divers using sonar equipment and RNLI volunteers to try and locate David’s body and after an extensive search over two days, sadly we have now recovered his body,” said Cleveland Police, Chief Inspector Sharon Cooney.
It is thought that David tried to swim across the river with friends on Monday evening, but at some point got into difficulties and became unconscious.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said his death was not suspicious and it is believed it was due to a tragic accident.
He was a good guy,” said his friend Innocent Musha when visited the spot where David went missing. “He was always happy and was always having fun – I can’t believe that he has gone.”
Tony Aziz added: “He will be a great loss. I can’t believe that no one was able to rescue him when he was shouting for help – it is such a tragedy.
“Everyone who knows him will be devastated by his death. I just needed to come and see where he went missing.”
Members of the emergency services have reminded people of the dangers of swimming in rivers and lakes.
They said that, while tempting in hot weather, people can quickly get into difficulty due to the cold water temperatures, depth and undercurrents.
“It doesn’t matter how strong a swimmer you are it is still incredibly dangerous to swim in rivers and lakes and this tragedy highlights the dangers,” said Chief Inspector Cooney.
Ian McHugh, for Cleveland Fire Brigade, added: “People might think that because it is a hot sunny day that the water is warm but when you get away from the edge the temperature drops and in many cases, like the River Tees, there is a strong undercurrent even when the top of the water looks calm.
COMMENTS
Sadly, although I read news reports over this same period of the deaths of two British boys in swimming accidents, I saw no mention of this Zimbabwean lad. May peace be with his family.