Body of missing 13-year-old boy found in Kallang River
The police received a call for assistance at about 10.35pm on Thursday (Feb 26) night regarding a body found floating in the water.
The missing 13-year-old boy’s mother looking out at Kallang River on Feb 26, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Marcus Mark Ramos)
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SINGAPORE: The body of the missing 13-year-old boy who is suspected to have drowned in the Kallang River has been retrieved, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Thursday (Feb 26) night.
"At about 10.35pm, the police received a call for assistance regarding a body found floating in the Kallang River," SPF said.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that firefighters and rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team retrieved the body from the water.
The boy was pronounced dead at the scene by an SCDF paramedic, according to SCDF.
"Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play, and investigations are ongoing," SPF added.
Earlier on the same night, the search operation for the boy had been called off by SCDF as there had been no sign of the missing boy following an extensive search of the area.
"The active search operation was called off at about 7pm," SCDF had said.
It added then that it would "continue to monitor the situation and conduct periodic checks in the area".
The boy was reported missing on Wednesday afternoon. He was believed to have been fishing when the incident happened.
SCDF resumed the search at about 7am on Thursday after calling it off the night before due to low visibility.
Speaking to reporters after arriving at the river around noon, the boy's mother identified him as Daniel - the second of three sons and a student at Northlight School.
The 46-year-old mother, who gave her name as Siti, works at a food stall in VivoCity. She said she planned to remain near the search area throughout the day.
Mdm Siti dabbed away tears as she spoke to reporters. She said Daniel would usually return home between 4pm and 5pm, even when he had activities after school.
She added that her son had never caused her any trouble.
SCDF said it was alerted to the suspected drowning at about 4.30pm on Wednesday and an underwater search was conducted by rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team.
On Thursday, three SCDF officers were seen walking up and down the park connector along the Kallang River, occasionally using binoculars to scan the water, as search operations continued.
At about 5pm, five SCDF officers joined four police officers at the scene, where they continued to watch the river.
One officer was heard saying that the boy was believed to be wearing purple when he was last seen.
