Rains claim worshippers

02 April 2013 - 02:46 By Lulamile Feni, Tremaine van Aardt and Sapa
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Heavy rains in East London.
Heavy rains in East London.
Image: Neil Eichstadt

Seven people drowned in five separate incidents, and worshippers attending Easter conventions were left stranded as heavy rains flooded bridges over the weekend in the Eastern Cape.

The South African Weather Service said East London was the hardest hit area in the province with 116.3mm of rain recorded, but a thunderstorm over Nelson Mandela Bay caused 47.2mm of rain and rolling power outages across Port Elizabeth at the weekend after lightning struck an electricity pole.

OR Tambo District Municipality disaster management chief director Vusumzi Mgobozi said worshippers who drowned while crossing flooded bridges or attending baptismal ceremonies in swelling rivers were among the dead.

Mgobozi said the recovery of the bodies was difficult as the torrential rivers carried them "very far away from the place of entry and drowning".

In December 45 drowned in the Eastern Cape.

Two men drowned in the Vals River near Kroonstad in the Free State on Saturday while being baptised, ER24 spokesman Derrick Banks said. Another two men drowned in a dam at Escombe Street, Brakpan, on Friday while trying to recover a small remote- controlled boat, Ekurhuleni Emergency Management Services said.

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