SA doctor Feroze Ganchi missing in Syria after airstrike on refugee camp

Fears are mounting for the safety of a South African doctor who is missing in Syria.

Attorney Yousha Tayob told TimesLIVE that he had received information that Dr Feroze Ganchi, 48, from Durban, may have been caught up in an airstrike on a refugee camp where he was working.

"The doc committed himself to assisting Muslims wherever he could," said Tayob.

Department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya said on Tuesday: "We know about the matter from media and friends who called us. Only when somebody has presented themselves to our mission in Syria will we have confirmed facts, but we are aware of this matter."

Rapport reported on Sunday that Ganchi was missing. He and his wife Saffiya have been in Syria for three years. He is believed to have sometimes travelled under a pseudonym.

Ganchi was arrested by Egyptian security police in 2009 and detained in Cairo when he was travelling with humanitarian aid organisation Gift of the Givers en route to Gaza. He was held in Pakistan in 2004 on suspicion of having links to al-Qaeda.