A busy long weekend for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in the Western Cape saw no fewer than eight people rescued in various incidents in the province.
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According to NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon, multiple incidents on the coast and inland waterways on Sunday prompted the organization, police and law enforcement agencies, lifeguards, and emergency services to issue an urgent warning to beachgoers to keep safety in and around water at the forefront of their minds.
On Friday, three men were also saved after their small boat capsized at Koegel Bay.
“Two NSRI Gordons Bay rescue craft arrived on the scene three minutes after the alarm was raised finding one person clinging to the upturned hull and two people in the water. They had called a friend to raise the alarm and they were able to set off red distress flares,” said Lambinon.
Three more people were rescued on Saturday after the stand-up paddle boarders were swept out to sea 100 metres offshore at Rocklands Beach when wind speeds suddenly picked up.
“The fishing vessel, Nicolette, had also spotted the three people on their two [boards] being swept out to sea and the fishermen were able to use their fishing vessel to provide them a lee from the wind almost a nautical mile offshore until NSRI Bakoven arrived on the scene.”
The paddle boarders were taken to the Oceana Power Boat Club, where provincial health paramedics treated them for hypothermia.
On the West Coast, between Yzerfontein and Saldanha Bay, NSRI Yzerfontein, NSRI Mykonos and the Transnet National Ports Authority conducted an extensive search for two people who went missing near Langebaan Lagoon while training for the Trans Agulhas.
“They were eventually found to have washed into the Saldanha Bay Iron Ore area and were safe,” said Lambinon.
Meanwhile, four people drowned in incidents at False Bay and Camps Bay in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“At 1am on Sunday, NSRI Bakoven and the South African Police Service searched between Camps Bay and Glen Beach where a group of people had earlier entered the water and then reported that one person went missing in the surf. Police divers are continuing a search at Camps Bay for a 42-year-old female who remains missing.” added the NSRI Spokesperson.
Following a busy weekend, Lambinon appealed to boaters, paddlers and sailors to take every precaution when taking to the waters.
“Let a responsible person know your launch time, route and return time — and all involved should have the emergency numbers 112 and 0870949774 at the ready to raise the alarm,” he said.
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