A 10-week-old baby girl was found dead on Muizenberg beach on Monday, said the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). An adult male also died on the same beach following a suspected drowning, said NSRI.
The baby girl is believed to have been discovered in the sand on the beach, and could not be resusitated despite extensive CPR, NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said in a statement.
Paramedics were unable to resuscitate an adult male who was saved from water after possibly drowning, also on Muizenberg beach.
Lambinon said an inquest docket has been opened into both cases.
A 25-year-old man has also gone missing while swimming at Monwabisi beach on New Year’s Day. It is feared that he could be the tenth drowning victim in the Western Cape this holiday period.
The disappearance follows extensive warnings issued by the NSRI about dangerous condition and stronger than normal tides due to the supermoon rising on Tuesday night. The full moon will have an added effect to rip tides due to it’s proximity to Earth.
The City of Cape Town’s executive director for safety and security, Richard Bosman, said there had already been at least eight confirmed drownings in the Cape this summer, three at Mnandi, four at Strand/Gordon’s Bay, another at Soetwater. Monday’s Muizenberg drowning takes the total number of fatalities to ten.
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