The body of a 39-year-old man who went missing after being swept out to sea at Strand Beach in Cape Town has been recovered, while the search continues for a second man.
Craig Lambinon of NSRI Communications said the man was found deceased on Thursday morning, a day after he and another man were swept into the surf while trying to help a colleague who had experienced difficulties in the water.
Police divers from the water policing and diving service, assisted by NSRI Gordon’s Bay and emergency medical services, recovered the body near the Lourens River in the Helderberg protected marine area.
It is believed the recovered man is the 39-year-old from Mfuleni, Blue Downs, who went missing on Wednesday. Lambinon said formal identification by his family was under way in co-operation with police and forensic pathology services.
An inquest docket has been opened.
The incident happened at about 1.43pm on Wednesday when a group of men from a local business visited Strand Beach on a day off work.
According to Lambinon, one man got into difficulties in the water. Two of his colleagues, a 22-year-old man from Belhar and the 39-year-old from Mfuleni, were caught in rip currents while trying to assist him and disappeared in the surf zone.
A local surfer, described by the NSRI as a Good Samaritan, rescued the man who had initially been in distress. He was attended to by paramedics and released without requiring further medical treatment.
An extensive search operation was launched, involving NSRI rescue craft and swimmers, police divers, emergency medical services, the EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter, Cape Town fire and rescue services, City of Cape Town law enforcement and its marine unit.
Despite the extensive air, sea and shoreline search, there were initially no signs of the two missing men.
Lambinon conveyed condolences to the dead man’s family.
TimesLIVE
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