A man drowned at Hermanus in the Western Cape on Saturday while the body of a 10-year-old boy who drowned at Paternoster was recovered about 400m offshore‚ the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) reported.
It said three men were rescued on Saturday afternoon by lifeguards after being caught in rip currents while swimming in the surf at Grotto Beach near Hermanus.
“CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) efforts commenced on a 40-year-old man from Cape Town but sadly‚ despite extensive CPR efforts‚ the man was declared deceased by paramedics.
“The remaining two men were transported to hospital by EMS ambulance in a stable but serious condition. One has been released following treatment for non-fatal drowning symptoms and one remains in hospital but he is expected to make a full recovery‚” the NSRI said.
Also on Saturday afternoon‚ NSRI Mykonos responded to Paternoster to assist the SA Police Services dealing with a case of a 10-year-old boy missing in the surf at Main Beach.
“NSRI Mykonos launched a sea rescue craft to search and NSRI rescue swimmers were deployed into the surf to conduct sweeping line free dive searches.
“During the search the body of the child was located and recovered from the ocean floor 400m off-shore and the body was brought to shore aboard the sea rescue craft and taken into the care of the Forensic Pathology Services and police have opened an inquest docket‚” the NSRI said. In a separate incident‚ a 38-year-old woman had to be rescued after being swept out to sea at Noordhoek Beach. The woman and a male friend were apparently standing in knee-deep water when she was knocked over by the back-wash of strong rip-currents and swept out to sea.
Two local surfers paddled to her aid and hoisted her onto one of the surfboards until an NSRI sea rescue craft arrived on the scene and took her back to shore where she was treated for mild hypothermia and exhaustion.
