Jury to hear inquest of boy, 2, who died after falling into river

A jury is to hear the inquest of a two-year-old boy who died after falling into a river in Leicester, a coroner has said.

Xielo Maruziva fell into the River Soar, in the Aylestone area, on 18 February 2024 triggering a search involving more than 200 officers.

His body was found on 6 June 2024 by workers in the Aylestone Meadows nature reserve.

A pre-inquest review hearing took place at Leicester’s City Hall on Thursday, when coroner Prof Catherine Mason heard from representatives of Leicester City Council, which manages the nature reserve, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which investigated the circumstances around Xielo’s death.

The coroner described Xielo’s death as “a very painful event” and said she would like to extend her sympathies to Xielo’s parents and relatives present at the hearing.

Prof Mason indicated an inquest jury would hear evidence from Leicestershire Police – which also carried out an investigation – the HSE and relatives of Xielo who were walking with him when he entered the water.

She said the full inquest would also hear from Xielo’s father, who was not present at the time but quickly went to the scene and attempted a rescue.

Xielo went missing during bad weather, which led to widespread flooding in the area around Aylestone.

Prof Mason added she would hear evidence about the height of the water, where it was flowing to and the distance between where Xielo entered the water and where he was found.

A date for a full inquest has yet to be set but the hearing was told it could be in October or November this year.