East Cape Coastal Water Rescue
Call: 10111
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Notice

11Jan2025 - Drowning Swartkops River

11 January 2025

The Coastal Water Rescue (CWR) squad was activated last night at 20:35 following reports of an ongoing drowning incident, with the initial location indicated as Redhouse. Upon approaching the scene, additional information was received, indicating that the area was near the M17 bridge over the Swartkops River.

CWR responders located the reporting person on the opposite side of Brickfields and redirected all members to that area.

Since we could not communicate with the caller directly, we used our inflatable rescue craft to cross the river and transport the person back to where the rest of the team and SAPS divers were stationed.

The eyewitness reported that the incident had occurred earlier. A group of fishermen had been searching for prawns when one attempted to cross the river to a sandbank but encountered difficulty during the crossing.
The incident occurred around 19:20, but the eyewitness did not have a phone at the time and had to walk back to their fishing spot to call for help.

Due to the challenging location and nighttime conditions, it was decided to stand down. The SAPS divers will continue the search for the missing person.

Coastal Water Rescue is staffed by volunteers and funded by donations. Can you help us? Please visit https://www.cwrescue.co.za/support-us for more info.