Body of missing Pietermaritzburg doctor found at Howick Falls

Pietermaritzburg doctor Vidhwan Singh's body was found at the bottom of Howick Falls, KwaZulu-Natal, on Tuesday.

Singh, 70, had been missing for a week. He was last seen leaving his Raisethorpe surgery on Tuesday. The next day his vehicle was found parked in the Howick Falls parking area. 

Police divers from Pietermaritzburg, Durban and Port Shepstone Search and Rescue (SAR) units, along with PMB K9SAR, Port Shepstone K9SAR and DBN Metro Police SAR formed part of a provincial dive team that carried out the search for the general practitioner in Howick late last week.

Retired K9 unit officer Jack Haskins was instrumental in finding the body.

“I spotted him this morning. I know the body has since been identified as that of the missing doctor. I work in Howick now and the falls are probably about 600m from work, so I was assisting in the search and decided to go down with the binoculars and have a look,” he said.

“Having been with Search and Rescue for so many years, I know where to look for a body when it surfaces in the Howick area. I knew more or less where it would surface and when I spotted it I alerted the guys.”

Debris and large rocks underwater, coupled with the depth and extremely cold water, made dive operations difficult. 

On Friday, Public Eye reported that Singh was last seen, on camera footage, walking to the old zip line platform at the top of Howick Falls.