Durban – The body of a fisherman who had been missing for two days was recovered from a crocodile-infested river in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said that the body of a 27-year-old man was airlifted from the river bank of the Tugela River in Sundumbili.
He said that the Rusa R44 Raven 2 helicopter lifted off at 1.53pm and routed 60km north of Durban after receiving a call for assistance from search and rescue technicians.
On landing on the river bank, the pilot in command and two crews met with SAPS officials from the Umhlali K9 search and rescue unit, the Sundumbili SAPS and the IPSS search and rescue division.
“It was confirmed that the body of a 27-year-old man who drowned in 1.5m of water on Tuesday was recovered approximately 300m downstream by search and rescue technicians in the crocodile-infested river this afternoon (Thursday).
“They requested assistance to fly the body to Medico Legal Mortuary employees. The deceased was loaded into the aircraft and flown approximately 2km to the awaiting vehicle. The scene of the drowning could not be accessed by vehicles,” Balram explained.
He said that the eight officials were also flown from the riverbank to their vehicles to avoid the lengthy return hike.
IPSS Medical Rescue managing director Dylan Meyrick said that search and recovery efforts continued on Thursday morning for the fisherman who drowned in the Tugela River on Tuesday afternoon. After an extensive two-day search, the man’s body was spotted by the local community downriver from where he disappeared under the water.
Meyrick said that after a long hike, IPSS Search and Rescue members, alongside SAPS K9 Search and Rescue, KwaDukuza Municipality lifeguards, SAPS Search and Rescue Richards Bay as well as local SAPS members managed to gain access to the body.
He thanked Balram for helping with relocating the body with the use of the Rusa helicopter and for also airlifting Search and Rescue and SAPS members back to the main road and preventing a 4 to 5-hour hike back.
He also thanked Rusa security members and SAPS members who provided protection from the numerous large crocodiles spotted in the vicinity.
“Fortunately, members were able to recover the body without coming into contact with any crocodiles,” Meyrick said.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident last month, a fisherman escaped drowning when he was airlifted after slipping on rocks while fishing at Cuttings Beach in the Bluff, Durban south.
PT Alarms reported that a local fisherman “was fortunate to have escaped a near-drowning after he slipped on the rocks and broke his leg while also sustaining lacerations during a fishing stint at Cuttings Beach in the vicinity of the Merebank canal”.
The private security company said the waves were choppy and the patient had to be swiftly rescued and airlifted to a medical facility for immediate treatment.
The PT Alarms Tactical Unit assisted to cordon off the area for the upliftment of the patient by Netcare 911 while relevant authorities were on the scene.
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