Northamptonshire volunteers involved in search for two-year-old who fell into River Soar in Leicestershire

A group of volunteers from Northamptonshire have been involved in the search for a two-year-old who fell into the River Soar in Leicestershire.

Xielo Maruziva was reported to have fallen into the river in the Marsden Lane area of Aylestone Meadows, Leicestershire at around 5pm on February 18.

A search began immediately and has continued ever since. On February 19, support was provided by Northamptonshire Search & Rescue team, as well as specialist divers from Lincolnshire Police and Nottinghamshire Police, supported by volunteer search teams from Leicestershire and Warwickshire, and Watersafe UK.

More than 200 officers have been involved in the operation, assisted by five specialist search and rescue teams from across the country, with more than 30 divers entering the water.

Assistant chief constable for Leicestershire Police, Michaela Kerr, has led the operation. She said: “This is a devastating and tragic incident and I have been moved and inspired by the commitment, skill and compassion that has gone into searching for this little boy in very difficult circumstances. This has been, without doubt, one of the most complex search operations conducted in the most challenging of conditions experienced by policing in the UK.

“Our teams – both our own officers and those from other organisations – have been working full days no matter what the weather has been like with the sole aim of finding Xielo.

“We have reviewed our operation daily and are in regular contact with subject matter experts from a variety of organisations to gather and discuss ideas and make sure we are doing everything we can to find Xielo.

“The next steps in the operation will continue to be informed by excellent advice from our colleagues locally, experts from the search community and the science and analysts available to us.

“We will, of course, continue to support Xielo’s family as we have done since the news of what happened first broke and in turn, I’m extremely grateful for the support that been shown towards us.”

The search continues.

Northamptonshire Search & Rescue is a charity, which relies on donations. Find out more here.