Search for missing nine-year-old child continues in Ungheni district of Moldova; authorities activate crisis cell

The search operation for the missing child is still underway, with all actions coordinated through the crisis cell activated at the Ungheni Police Inspectorate. All relevant structures have been mobilized at full capacity for the operation.

According to the authorities, the teams involved are continuing the necessary actions to find the child and to establish all circumstances of the case.

The Ungheni Police Inspectorate urges citizens to get information exclusively from official sources and not to share unverified information or rumors circulating in the public space.

“We call on citizens to get information exclusively from official sources and not to respond to or share unverified information and rumors that appear in the public space,” police representatives stated.

A nine-year-old child is being searched for by police and specialized teams, after he is believed to have been swept away by the strong currents of the Prut River in the Ungheni municipality. The boy was reported missing after he had left home on his scooter and did not return.

According to the Police, the report regarding the minor’s disappearance was received via the Single Emergency Service 112. Immediately after the alert, police officers from Ungheni, together with specialized subdivisions, launched extensive search operations.

During the investigations, law enforcement officers checked more locations and spoke with local residents, in order to reconstruct the child’s route. Checks showed that the minor, together with other children, went to the Prut River.

Preliminary data indicate that the children entered the water to swim, and at one point the nine-year-old boy is believed to have been taken by the strong currents of the river and disappeared from the view of the other children.

Police found the child’s personal belongings on the riverbank, left there before he entered the water.