Notices
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.
The CWR squad was activated this morning at 07:31 following reports of a paddler in distress off Schoenies on the Wildside. The paddler had come off his surf ski and was holding on to the surf ski of his paddling partner. The sea conditions were calm, but the strong currents and wind made them drift out to sea.
Due to the time the casualty spent in the cold water, there was no safe way of bringing him back to shore, and swimmers were not sent into the water. At this stage, the paddler and casualty were about 300m offshore.
NSRI Rescue 6C launched at Noordhoek and made its way to Schoenies, where it picked up the paddler at about 08:08, with the second paddler making his way to shore. CWR swimmers were standing by to assist the second paddler with the shore entry.
Rescue 6C returned to Noordhoek with the casualty, where the Gardmed Ambulance Services crew waited.
Today at 11:32 the CWR squad was activated to respond to the Sacramento Trail in Schoenmakerskop following reports of a missing 4 year old boy on the trail, his direction of travel was not known, nor if he had gone towards the water.
14 Coastal Water Rescue members responded from all over town; when the first members arrived on scene they started collecting information, then headed onto the trail to start assisting with the search, leaving members behind at the Sacramento Trail entrance.
A while into the search, somebody relayed information that the child had been found, but nobody was able to verify this, and it was decided to continue with the search. The CWR members were split between the top and bottom trails, with everybody in constant radio contact.
Crew from NSRI Station 6 assisted with the search and split their resources between the Sacrament Trail side and others starting from the Sardinia Bay side.
More information was received by the SAPS that the child was found alone on the trail. A SAPS K9 member was sent to investigate and confirmed that it was the missing child, reunited the child with his mother, and returned them to Schoenmakerskop, where the child was given the all clear by EMS.
Services on scene: Coastal Water Rescue, NSRI Station 6, Walmer SAPS, SAPS Flying Squad, SAPS Divers, EMS Rescue, EMS Chopper, Afriforum Sherwood NHW, Darkwater Ops
