Six lives lost on East Cape beaches

SIX people, including a child of five, drowned at Eastern Cape beaches on New Year’s Day.

None of the drownings occurred on Nelson Mandela Bay beaches, but three people drowned in Port Alfred.

Emergency services personnel had their hands full, with the National Sea Rescue Institute called to assist in several incidents.

The NSRI had urged bathers to exercise caution and beware of strong rip currents.

The Port Alfred drownings 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 Emma le Trobe, 18, 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 jet-ski ride at nearby East Beach when frantic crowds on the beach waved for 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.”

The pair got the man on board on the third attempt and rushed him to the beach where someone attempted CPR.

“He was foaming at the mouth. The person tried CPR for 20 minutes but could not revive him,” Thompson said.

“The man was crying as he tried to save the swimmer.”

NSRI Port Alfred station commander Juan Pretorius said his duty crew had raced to a drowning in progress at West Beach.

“An environmental patrol boat rescued two men 100m off-shore and brought them, both in their 20s, into the harbour. One man was declared dead and the other taken to hospital.”

Pretorius said they had rushed to Kasouga Beach shortly after midday where a man, 65, from Motherwell in Port Elizabeth, was pulled from rip currents by a member of the public.

Police identified the man as Sthembiso Kondile.

“A UK doctor on holiday, Dr Tim Sephter, initiated CPR. After all efforts to resuscitate the man were exhausted. He was declared dead at the scene.”

NSRI East London station commander, Geoff McGregor, said their duty crew, provincial EMS, police and other emergency services attended to multiple cases.

A boy of five drowned at Gulu near Kidds Beach, despite extensive resuscitation efforts by the EMS paramedics, McGregor said.

The NSRI helped police recover the body of a man found off Eastern Beach in East London.

NSRI Jeffreys Bay deputy station commander Ernie Schmidt said the NSRI crew, an EMS ambulance and helicopter responded to a drowning off Kabeljous.

CPR was performed on Port Elizabeth resident Tony Roberts, 53, but he was declared dead.

He drowned after his two children found themselves in difficulty while swimming. Their grandfather went in to help them but the current was too strong.

“The children’s father [Roberts] also rushed into the water to assist,” Metro EMS operations manager and paramedic Ashwell Botha said.

“Roberts managed to get hold of them but struggled to keep afloat. Two bystanders rushed in but he was already unconscious while still in the water.”

Botha said both children and the grandfather were rescued.