Two separate tragedies unfolded along the Western Cape and Garden Route coastline on Thursday, 18 December, with a man and a teenage boy losing their lives in unrelated incidents, reports Cape {town} Etc.
In the first incident, a 27-year-old man is believed to have drowned after being swept off rocks near Schulphoek in Hermanus.
According to NSRI Hermanus coxswain Jean Le Roux, rescue teams were activated at 2:40pm after reports of ‘a person observed appearing to be unresponsive floating face down in the sea offshore of Schulphoek, Hermanus‘.
NSRI rescue swimmers, SAPS, Overstrand Law Enforcement officers and CMC ambulance services responded to the scene, while NSRI rescue craft JetRIB and Leonard Smith were launched. WC Government Health EMS and Police Water Policing and Diving Services (WPDS) were also alerted.
‘While responding to the scene, further information indicated that the incident was related to that of a Cape Town man who had reportedly been swept off rocks by waves,‘ said Le Roux.
The man was recovered from the water by NSRI crews and transported to the NSRI Hermanus rescue base, where paramedics declared him deceased.
‘The body of the man (believed to be) age 27, was taken into the care of Police and Government Health Forensic Pathology Services,’ Le Roux added. Police have opened an inquest docket.
Earlier the same day, a 16-year-old boy from Cape Town died after falling from a cliff while hiking at Nature’s Valley in the Garden Route National Park.
NSRI Plettenberg Bay deputy station commander Ross Badenhorst said crews were activated at 10:47am following eyewitness reports that ‘a male [had] fallen from a cliff at Natures Valley – Bull Se Baai’.
A large-scale rescue operation was launched, involving NSRI crews, SAPS, ER24 ambulance services, WC Government Health EMS, Police WPDS and the EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter. Tow NSRI rescue craft – The Courtenay’s Rescuer and Rescue Ray – were launched, while a private boat with NSRI crew on board also responded.
During the search, NSRI teams navigated hazardous sea conditions near Ouma and Oupa caves.
‘During a search an NSRI JetRIB Rescue Ray was able to navigate into the mouth of a cave, timing the incoming wave sets, where an NSRI rescue swimmer was deployed from the rescue craft into the water,’ Badenhorst said.
Inside the cave, the rescue swimmer located the teenager ‘unresponsive with critical injuries’. Despite deteriorating conditions and rising tides, NSRI rescue swimmers and an NSRI doctor secured the teenager, ‘sadly deceased’, into a floating stretcher and recovered him onto the rescue craft.
The teenager’s body was transported to the NSRI Plettenberg Bay rescue base and handed over to SAPS and Government Health Forensic Pathology Service. Police have also opened an inquest docket.
The NSRI conveyed condolences to the families and friends of both victims.
In light of these recent fatal incidents, residents, locals and visitors are urged to remain vigilant around the ocean and cliffed areas. Sudden wave surges, unstable terrain and rising tides can pose serious risks, even in seemingly calm conditions.
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Picture: NSRI / Facebook
