Body of man recovered after boat capsizes in lake

05 January 2019 - 12:30 By TimesLIVE
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Image: NSRI

The body of a man reported missing on Friday night after his hired boat capsized in the Swartvlei at Pine Lake Marina, between Sedgefield and Knysna in the southern Cape, was recovered by rescuers in the early hours of Saturday.

Three of his children – two daughters aged 16 and 7, and a son aged five – who were with him in the boat were rescued on Friday evening.

National Sea Rescue Institute spokesman Craig Lambinon said the 45-year-old Cape Town man who was holidaying in George and visiting friends at Pine Lake Marina, had launched a small boat the family had hired to go fishing in the Swartvlei at around 4pm on Friday.

“When they hadn’t returned by nightfall the man’s wife and friends raised the alarm and it appears civilians launched a search using jet-skis.

“During their search, reportedly at approximately 8.30pm, they found the three children swimming to shore and only the male child was wearing a life-jacket, although it has been reported that they had all been issued life-jackets, and all three were brought to shore.

“Nurses, reportedly on vacation at the resort, treated the children for hypothermia and shock.

“The children reported that earlier the boat that they were on had capsized. They had lost sight of their dad and they started to swim to shore,” said Lambinon. 

A search for the missing man had then been launched by members of the NSRI Wilderness crew in two rescue craft, assisted by a police dive unit in a police boat and civilians using jet-skis.

During an extensive water and shoreline search, the man’s body was located and recovered in the early hours of Saturday.

Lambinon said the body had been taken into the care of the Forensic Pathology Services and that an inquest docket had been opened by police.

“The family - the wife and the three children - were transported to hospital by ER24 ambulance in the care of paramedics, suffering from shock.

“The small boat and the remaining life-jackets have not been located,” he added.


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