Various duty crews resumed a rescue operation on Friday morning [December 11] to search for a 19-year-old male who disappeared in the surf line while trying to rescue two family members from drowning at Strand Beach on Thursday, December 10.
A 9-year-old female child and a 16-year-old female family member from Mfuleni appear to have gotten into difficulty in the surf while swimming at Strand Beach on Thursday. A 19-year-old male family member attempted to assist them and it is believed that he also got into difficulty in the water before disappearing in the surf line.
At 4pm, the National Sea Rescue Institute’s (NSRI) Gordons Bay duty crew and City of Cape Town (CoCT) Surf Lifesaving lifeguards initiated a rescue operation.
The operation was a collaboration between several emergency services, including:
– NSRI Gordons Bay, with two sea rescue craft and rescue swimmers;
– CoCT Fire and Rescue Services;
– Gordons Bay Med Sec ambulance services and ER24 ambulance services;
– Western Cape Government Health EMS;
– SA Police Services, CoCT Law Enforcement and Strand Neighbourhood Watch.
The EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter also responded and joined the lifeguards who were on the scene.
“Lifeguards rescued the 9-year-old child and the female teenager and initiated CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) efforts on the child who was transported to a local hospital by GB Med Sec ambulance in a critical condition and the child was later airlifted to a Cape Town hospital by the EMS/AMS Skymed helicopter and we believe that the child remains in a critical condition,” said NSRI spokesperson, Craig Lambinon.
“Despite an extensive search including NSRI sea rescue craft, CoCT Fire and Rescue Services dive unit, utilising a rescue craft, Lifeguards, utilising rescue craft, a shoreline search and rescue swimmers, lifeguards and rescue divers conducting sweeping line free dive search efforts and an air search there remains no sign of the missing male teenager.”
A Police Dive Unit continues the search for the missing teenager on Friday morning.