Notices
On Friday 23 Feb 2024 the CWR squad was activated at 9:05am to respond to the Swartkops River mouth after a report was received that a small boat had capsized, and that there were two people in the water.
The rescue crew from the BWBLSC was busy in their rescue room when a bystander who witnessed the event alerted them; they immediately launched their rescue IRB to go and assist.
One casualty was found in good health standing on a sand bank, but the skipper was still missing; they were both wearing bright orange life jackets.
The BWBLSC duck found the second casualty, the skipper, near the overturned boat, a 4.2m Boston Whaler. They retrieved him and rushed him back to shore.
The skipper was attended to by EMS and transported to the hospital for observation.
NSRI Station 6 launched their rescue craft 6A from the harbour to assist with the retrieval of the overturned boat. They managed to right it, and it was towed back to the harbour.
Well done BWBLSC for the quick response to this incident!
The CWR squad was activated at 07h52 to respond to a drowning in progress at Salt Lake Missionvale.
CWR response units joined Metro EMS teams en route to the scene as the exact location was difficult to find.
On arrival, it was established that two young boys aged 10 and 11 got into trouble whilst swimming in the salt pans.
Both children were found washed up on the side of the salt pans. Both were declared deceased by Metro EMS.
Services on scene: NMB EMS, SAPS Diving Unit, SAPS Section Vehicle, ECDOH FPS and Coastal Water Rescue.
On Sunday 21st Jan 2024, a report was received via (WERC) Water Emergency Rescue Committee, about a kite surfer in trouble at Sardinia Bay. Municipal lifeguards on duty observed the kite surfer far offshore in the water having difficulty with relaunching his kite
Upon arrival, CWR squad members' initial sighting of him placed him around 300 meters offshore with the kite and kite surfer floating together in the water.
A fellow kite surfer launched and assisted by towing him around 200m off shore.
Due to the prevailing winds, there were fears that he would end up on the rocks at the start of the Sacramento Hiking Trail.
When CWR rescue swimmers entered the water, the kite surfer reached a sandbank just behind a rock formation in the wave-breaking zone, 50 meters offshore.
Three CWR rescue swimmers managed to assist him to safety, battling a strong rip current and heavy waves.
His kite was retrieved by members of NSRI.
On Tuesday 19:02 the Coastal Water Rescue squad was activated to respond to Sundays River in Colchester following reports of a drowning occurred.
Teenagers from the local community were swimming in the river, and two of them got into trouble after jumping off the jetty. Eye witnesses saw them jump into the river, they emerged briefly, and the next time he saw them there were about 40 meters away from the jetty and submerged, they were not seen again.
Squad members were deployed into the water to start an underwater search from the jetty towards the indicated location.
The bodies of both casualties were located after searching for about 45 minutes, and the scene was handed over the SAPS.
On Tuesday 09 January 2024 the Coastal Water Rescue squad was activated at 16:09 following reports of a drowning in progress at Hobie Beach.
On arrival it was found that a casualty had been submerged and was removed from the water.
The casualty refused any assistance. His family members were given the necessary info and advice to have him checked by medical personnel as soon as possible as secondary drowning is a risk, and a stand down was issued to the CWR members.
The CWR squad was activated at 01:43 to respond to Bluewater Bay following reports of a motor vehicle accident in which a vehicle had gone off the side of the N2 bridge and landed in the Swartkops River.
Further reports followed that the vehicle was empty, but there were no sign of the driver or any passengers.
A BWB resident who was first on scene found a casualty about 100m from the vehicle location, he got caught in the fast flowing stream during the outgoing tide, and Gardmed Ambulance Services was attending to him when the CWR crew arrived on scene.
The casualty indicated that there were four people, including himself, in the vehicle. An extensive water search was done by CWR and BWB Rescue, covering the area between where the vehicle landed and the river mouth, but nothing was found.
This morning, CWR and BWB Rescue returned to the scene at 5 am and continued the search, with the NSRI Station 6 launching at 8.30am to assist with the search efforts.
The CWR squad was activated to respond to Schoenmakerskop on Sunday, December 24, 2023, following reports of a drowning that occurred during the night. It was reported that a diver had gone missing and was presumed to have drowned.
CWR squad members responded to the location, where they met with SAPS Search & Rescue, SAPS Dive Unit and the SAPS Sector Vehicle, who had sighted the casualty earlier.
After searching for over an hour, the search was called off.
Later in the day, further reports indicated that a body had been spotted in the ocean, approximately 200-300 meters from the shore. Squad members responded to the location, confirmed the sighting, and relayed the information back to SAPS S&R.
NSRI Station 6 launched the vessel Rescue 6C from the Noordhoek base, and in collaboration with SAPS S&R, proceeded to the location just off Noordhoek to recover the body of the missing diver.
