THE SEARCH to find a two-year-old boy who fell into a river in Leicestershire has entered its third week.

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

According to Leicestershire Police, a member of Xielo’s family jumped into the river to try and locate him but was unable to do so.

Officers, supported by colleagues from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Leicestershire Search and Rescue and the National Police Air Service (NPAS), were immediately deployed to the area.

That evening, emergency services remained in the area, working to try and find Xielo.

‘Bundle of joy’

Heavy rainfall has also hampered the search for the toddler who has been described as “a bundle of joy” by his family.

Leicestershire Police say to date, 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.

An incident room at force headquarters in Enderby was set up to co-ordinate the search, with a police search advisor (PolSA) co-ordinating Tactical Support Teams (TSTs) at the scene.

This incident room has remained open and focussed on finding Xielo throughout the police operation.

Assistant Chief Constable 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.”