Six drown at EC beaches
Emergency services, NSRI out in full force on New Year’s Day
SIX people, including a five-year-old, drowned at Eastern Cape beaches on New Year’s Day.
However, none of them drowned at Port St Johns’s Second Beach – regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous beaches because of the number of shark attacks and drownings in recent years.
Emergency services personnel had their hands full with the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) called to assist in several incidents.
The NSRI has urged bathers to exercise safety and beware of strong rip currents.
Two drownings in Port Alfred took place at the notorious East and West beaches, alongside the two piers on the Kowie River, after hordes of swimmers ignored “no bathing” signs and risked the dangerous rip currents.
Durban holidaymakers Andrew Thompson, 52, and 18-year-old Emma le Trobe tried their best to save a Keiskamma man in difficulty at East Beach.
They managed to pull him out of the water but he died in front of traumatised friends and family.
The pair had left their Royal Alfred Marina home for a jetski ride at nearby East Beach when frantic crowds on the beach waved to them to help.
“We tried to grab him twice but could not get him. He was flailing in the water and had a blank, glazed look in his eyes,” Thompson said.
The pair got the man on board on the third attempt and rushed him to the beach where a man out for an afternoon walk attempted to resuscitate him.
“He was foaming at the mouth and the person tried CPR for 20 minutes, but could not revive him.”
NSRI Port Alfred station commander Juan Pretorius said his duty crew raced to a drowning in progress at West Beach.
“An environmental patrol boat in the area at the time rescued two men 100m offshore and we rendezvoused with them as they were bringing the patients, both in their 20s, into the harbour. One man was declared deceased and the other hospitalised.”
Pretorius said they rushed to Kasouga Beach soon afterwards where a 65-year-old man from Motherwell was rescued from rip currents by a member of the public.
“A UK doctor on holiday, Dr Tim Sephter, initiated CPR efforts. After all efforts to resuscitate him were exhausted, he was declared deceased.”
NSRI East London station commander Geoff McGregor said their duty crew, provincial EMS, police and supporting emergency services attended to “multiple cases”.
A five-year-old boy drowned at Gulu near Kidd’s Beach despite extensive resuscitation efforts by the EMS paramedics, McGregor said.
The NSRI helped police recover the body of a man found floating off Eastern Beach in East London.
NSRI Jeffreys Bay deputy station commander Ernie Schmidt said at 10.19am, the NSRI crew, an EMS ambulance and an EMS rescue helicopter responded to a family drowning in progress in the ocean off Kabeljous.
A doctor and nurse who were at the beach at the time performed CPR on the 54-yearold Port Elizabeth man but he was declared dead.
Port St Johns mayor Lindiwe Rolobile, who had vowed to make the coastal town safer during the festive season, told the Daily Dispatch yesterday she was happy that no one had drowned at their beaches.
“I was even at Second Beach warning people about drinking alcohol and swimming.
“It was a team effort and I am proud of everyone,” she said, adding they had employed 65 professional lifeguards.
Alcohol was also confiscated at beaches and extra manpower employed to enforce the decision. —