A missing 5-year-old boy has been found dead in a branch of the Danube River in Vienna after a hammer attack on his mother.

The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through much of Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest into the Black Sea.

According to the police on Sunday, the child’s father is considered a suspect.

The search for the 41-year-old man has been unsuccessful so far.

According to the police, the father was supposed to return their son to his ex-wife a week earlier after an agreed visitation time.

Instead, he showed up alone at the 39-year-old woman’s home, threatened her with a shotgun, and injured her with a hammer.

The boy was discovered by the water police on Saturday evening.

It was unclear how long the child had been in the water. (dpa/NAN)