Police, SANDF members rescue tour guide from Komati River flooding

Police have rescued a Mozambican tour guide on Friday and are still trying to locate two other men who were swept away by rivers in Mpumalanga on Thursday. 

The 58-year-old guide is said to have been driving a vehicle on a trip to pick up some guests from South Africa. He had tried to drive over a low water bridge at 10pm over the Komati River in Komatipoort when the water swept the vehicle he was driving. 

“Today Mpumalanga police divers in collaboration with the South African National Defence Force based in Hoedspruit managed to rescue the man through a helicopter brought by the soldiers. However, the car is still stuck inside the river,” police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said. 

In another incident on Thursday at 1pm, another man whose identity is unknown was attempting to cross the same low water bridge at Komati River when he was swept away. Police divers are still looking for him. 

In the third incident, a man from Kanyamazane ran into a nearby river on Thursday after an alleged quarrel at his house. The man is still being sought. 

Mpumalanga police commissioner Lt-Gen Semakaleng Daphney Manamela praised the rescue team and also pleaded with members of the public not to cross low lying bridges during rainy days.

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