Tragic drownings, multiple rescues reported at crowded beaches ahead of school reopening
Lifeguards on duty at Strand beach in Cape Town where rescues of bathers in difficulty took place this past weekend.
Image: Henk Kruger / Independent Newspapers
Lifesaving South Africa has reported a series of fatal drownings as well as rescues across the country during the past weekend as beaches, rivers, and lagoons were crowded with holidaymakers taking advantage of favourable weather conditions.
In a statement issued on Monday, the organisation confirmed the drowning of a seven-year-old boy in the Umgeni River near Ntuzuma township. His body was recovered on Sunday, January 11.
In another fatal incident along the Garden Route, a 24-year-old man drowned at Nature’s Valley Lagoon on Saturday, January 10. Lifesaving South Africa said bystanders retrieved the man from the water and attempted to resuscitate him.
“Despite the best efforts of bystanders who retrieved him from under the water, it was in vain,” the organisation said, adding that a British doctor who was on holiday in the area assisted with the resuscitation attempts. The man was declared dead at the scene.
Search operations are also continuing for a 17-year-old boy who went missing during a boat cruise on the Vaal River in Gauteng on Friday, January 9. Lifesaving South Africa said no further information on his whereabouts had been received.
The organisation extended its “sincerest condolences to the families of the victims” and said its “thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the missing 17-year-old.”
It reiterated its safety warning that “swimming should not take place in any area where there are no lifesavers patrolling or unguarded environments.”
Alongside the fatalities, several rescues were carried out by lifesavers and bystanders. At Clovelly Beach on Saturday afternoon, members of the Fish Hoek Surf Lifesaving Club’s voluntary duty squad rescued two bathers in difficulty in hazardous surf conditions. Both were treated on shore and advised to seek further medical care.
Further rescues were reported at Strand Beach, where a voluntary lifesaver and city lifeguards assisted bathers caught in rip currents, and where a 17-year-old was pulled from the water near the jetty and transferred to hospital after emergency treatment. Additional medical incidents were managed on Sunday at Strand and Glenashley Beach in Durban.
Lifesaving South Africa said the incidents highlighted the importance of supervised swimming areas, warning that without the presence of duty lifesavers and bystander intervention, “these patients may not have been fortunate.”
Over the weekend, South African beaches saw tragic drownings and multiple rescues as holidaymakers flocked to the coast ahead of school reopening. Lifesaving South Africa urges caution in unguarded swimming areas.