Marathon night rescue for injured German tourist on Table Mountain
Image: The Mountain Club of SA – Search And Rescue, Dwayne Evans and David Nel
A German tourist was carried down a steep trail by a team of more than 20 rescuers in a marathon night rescue after being injured on a hike up Table Mountain.
A family visiting from Limpopo called for help after finding the injured 64-year-old man on Monday afternoon as they neared the top of the Platteklip Gorge hiking trail. Unable to continue with an ankle injury, the man had started dragging himself down the trail while seated.
Image: The Mountain Club of SA – Search And Rescue, Dwayne Evans and David Nel
Teams of rescuers and paramedics were ferried up in the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, hiked across the mountain and down to the injured hiker. While taking him down in a specially adapted terrain-taming stretcher with a wheel, a call was put out for extra help.
“A rescue team of more than 20 worked for five hours as they carried the injured hiker down the steep trail in the dark,” Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) spokesperson David Nel said on Wednesday.
“A rope safety line was used to help the team as they carefully carried the patient down the broken and technical sections of the trail.
“It started raining halfway through the incident so rescuers also had to contend with the wet and slippery conditions while moving the stretcher down the mountain.”
The rescue ended at 12.30am and the injured man was transported to hospital by ambulance.
“We thank the City of Cape Town law enforcement officers who accompanied the teams onto the mountain and those who stood watch at the base of the hiking trail.
“We wish the patient a speedy recovery,” said Nel.
WSAR appealed to hikers to save and share the emergency contact number 021-937-0300.
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