A teenage boy (14) drowned earlier today, 11 September at a beach south of the popular Wild Coast Sun Holiday Resort.
Gert du Plessis, NSRI Port Edward station commander, said it appeared that a group of seven people, from Harding, were swimming when two boys in the group, a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old, reportedly got into difficulties in the water. “We believe that they were caught in rip currents,” Du Plessis said.
According to Shawn Herbst, spokesperson for Netcare 911, paramedics responded to reports of a drowning in process around 11:40 at the beach. There are no lifeguards at this beach.
Most of the swimmers managed to get themselves to shore with the help of people at a local camping site.
“One of the swimmers, a 14-year-old boy, was found on a nearby rocky outcrop and was brought to shore by the South Coast SAPS Search and Rescue Unit. The young boy was assessed on scene by paramedics, however, showed no signs of life and was sadly declared deceased,” Herbst said.
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Upon NSRI arriving on the scene, the 12-year-old boy was found on the beach.
“He was in a critical condition suffering non-fatal drowning symptoms. He was stabilised on the beach and transported off the beach in an NSRI off-road rescue vehicle to the ambulance. He was transported to hospital by Netcare 911 ambulance in a serious, but stable condition,” Du Plessis said.
The body of the deceased boy has been taken into the care of Government Health Forensic Pathology Services. Police have opened an inquest docket.
This was the second drowning reported in the Eastern Cape this weekend.
A KwaZulu-Natal woman (19), believed to be a student at Rhodes University in Makhanda, drowned at West Beach in Port Alfred yesterday, 10 September.
