Student drowns in Port Elizabeth seas

30 January 2017 - 10:27 By TMG Digital
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Members of the National Sea Rescue Institute in action. File Photo.
Members of the National Sea Rescue Institute in action. File Photo.
Image: Flickr/NSRI

A 22-year-old man from Zimbabwe who had been studying in South Africa died at the weekend‚ after being caught in a rip current in the sea at Port Elizabeth's Sardinia Bay beach.

Sardinia Bay Surf Lifeguards said the student had disappeared beneath the surf 100 meters off-shore.

Lifeguards were on duty at a designated safe swimming area‚ "but it appears that the man‚ who is a student in Port Elizabeth‚ had gone swimming away from the safe swimming area before being swept out to sea by rip-currents and disappearing under water‚" the National Sea Rescue Institute said.

Ian Gray‚ NSRI Port Elizabeth station commander‚ said the incident happened at 4pm on Sunday‚ January 29.

A team comprising multiple emergency services had been called out to initiate a search and rescue attempt.

"During an extensive sea‚ shore and air search the body of the missing man was spotted in the surfline 500 meters to the West but numerous attempts to get the sea rescue craft into the breaking surf area (lined with a jagged rocks area of coastline) were not successful because of heavy breaking surf and further attempts by Coastal Water Rescue rescue swimmers to reach the body through the breaking surf from the shore were deemed to be unsafe‚" Gray said.

"After all efforts to recover the body were unsuccessful‚ the rescue operation was suspended at last light and a Police Dive Unit will continue with a search and recovery operation in the morning."

Family of the man‚ who had been at the beach with him and who are reportedly visiting from Zimbabwe‚ are being assisted by police trauma counsellors.

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