A body reportedly washed ashore at Dappat se Gat on Friday, December 11.

As reported by Strand Patrol News and Info, the body has not yet been identified. It has not yet been confirmed whether the body belongs to that of a 19-year-old who went missing in the surf at Strand Beach on Thursday, December 10.

The teen disappeared in the surf line while trying to rescue two family members from drowning at Strand Beach on Thursday. A nine-year-old girl and a 16-year-old female family member from Mfuleni appear to have gotten into difficulty in the surf while swimming at Strand Beach on Thursday.

A 19-year-old male family member attempted to assist them and it is believed that he also got into difficulty in the water before disappearing in the surf line.

At 4pm, the National Sea Rescue Institute’s (NSRI) Gordons Bay duty crew and City of Cape Town (CoCT) Surf Lifesaving lifeguards initiated a rescue operation.

“Lifeguards rescued the 9-year-old child and the female teenager and initiated CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) efforts on the child who was transported to a local hospital by GB Med Sec ambulance in a critical condition and the child was later airlifted to a Cape Town hospital by the EMS/AMS Skymed helicopter and we believe that the child remains in a critical condition,” said NSRI spokesperson, Craig Lambinon.

“Despite an extensive search including NSRI sea rescue craft, CoCT Fire and Rescue Services dive unit, utilising a rescue craft, Lifeguards, utilising rescue craft, a shoreline search and rescue swimmers, lifeguards and rescue divers conducting sweeping line free dive search efforts and an air search there remains no sign of the missing male teenager.”

A Police Dive Unit continues the search for the missing teenager on Friday morning [December 11].

Picture: NSRI

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Lucinda is a hard news writer who occasionally dabbles in lifestyle writing, and recent journalism graduate. She is a proud intersectional feminist, and is passionate about actively creating a world which is free of discrimination and inequality.