A 62-year-old woman drowned at Blue Horizon Bay beach this morning, December 27.
According to SAPS spokesperson Capt. Sandra Janse van Rensburg, a couple from Blue Horizon Bay went for a swim at the beach, but as they were getting out of the water, both were caught by a wave. The man managed to get out, but the woman drowned.
“The community in the area managed to recover her body and the necessary role players were contacted. Her name will only be released at a later stage,” said Capt. Janse van Rensburg.
This is the third reported drowning incident in as many days along the local coastline. Yesterday, December 26, a 19-year-old teenager drowned at the Kabeljous River mouth, near Jeffreys Bay, when he and two other boys were caught in a rip current.
The Kouga Express reported that one of the boys, aged 13, was rescued by an angler, while the other boy managed to escape unharmed.
The teenagers reportedly waded in shallow surf during an incoming tide when they were caught in rip currents and swept out to sea. Eyewitnesses raised the alarm. One teenager self-rescued and was not injured, while the remaining two were in difficulties in the surf zone when the NSRI and emergency services arrived on the scene.
In a media statement issued by the NSRI, Kristo Kritzinger, NSRI Jeffreys Bay station commander, said that at about 10:07, the NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty crew was activated following reports of a drowning in progress at Kabeljous River Mouth.
“On arrival at the scene, we found a 13-year-old local male had been rescued from the water by a fisherman who was angling from the shoreline. He had cast his fishing line in the direction of the teenager, who was able to wrap the fishing line around his wrist before being reeled to shore by the fisherman. He was taken into the care of Relay EMS paramedics.
“A second teenager had gone missing in the surf. During a search, the teenager was spotted in the water where NSRI rescue swimmers were deployed to free swim towards the teenager, and an NSRI rescue swimmer was deployed from an NSRI rescue craft,” said Kritzinger. The teenager, who was unresponsive, was recovered and taken to shore where he was declared deceased by paramedics and a doctor.
In another incident, 16-year-old Mujaid Muhammad drowned in the Swartkops River close to the N2 freeway in Bluewater Bay, Gqeberha. According to Capt. Janse van Rensburg, the incident occurred around 16:00 on December 25 when Muhammed and two friends went swimming in the river.
“According to a witness, the boy swam into the river, and when they (his friends) could not see him anymore, they ran home to inform his grandfather. All emergency services were activated, and the SAPS divers recovered the boy’s body,” said Capt. Janse van Rensburg.
