A 44-year-old man from Belhar is missing at sea in Milnerton. The National Sea Rescue Institute says he and a 23-year-old man were swimming yesterday when they were caught in rip currents. An onlooker managed to save the 23-year-old man. The NSRI says the search for the 44-year-old is ongoing.
A 44-year-old man from Belhar is missing at sea
Meanwhile, NSRI-Volunteers along with police divers and others are still searching for a man who disappeared at Monwabisi beach on Saturday while trying to save a girl. The 12-year-old girl was caught in rip currents when the 34-year-old man attempted to help her.
Spokesperson Craig Lambinon says in the Milnerton Beach incident, at 18h32, on Sunday, 24 November, NSRI Melkbosstrand, Milnerton Surf lifeguards and the CoCT (City of Cape Town) water rescue network were activated following reports to NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) from TNPA (Transnet National Ports Authority) Cape Town Port Control, Milnerton Surf Lifesaving Club and Cape Town Fire Control, of a drowning in progress at Milnerton Beach. He says staff at a local restaurant and eyewitnesses had raised the alarm.
Rescue Teams dispatched
Lambinon says volunteers and staff at NSRI Table Bay, NSRI Bakoven and Coastwatchers West Coast were alerted. He says NSRI Table Bay rescue swimmers, Milnerton Surf lifeguards, Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services, WC Government Health EMS and ER24 ambulance services then responded directly to the scene.
At the same time, Milnerton Surf lifeguards launched an IRB (Inflatable Rescue Boat), NSRI Melkbosstrand launched the rescue craft Rotaries Gift and Sea Ranger 13, and NSRI Bakoven launched the rescue craft Rescue 2 Alpha.
NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy
It was reported that on arrival on the scene, it was found that one local adult man, age 23, had been rescued from the water by an unidentified Good Samaritan man who had used an NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy, stationed at that beach, to successfully rescue the man from the water. The man who was rescued was not injured.
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He confirmed that his friend, a local 44-year-old man, from Belhar, was still missing in the water. Lambinon says it appears that the 2 men had been swimming when they were caught in rip currents.
MORE ABOUT: The National Sea Rescue Institute
The unidentified Good Samaritan
The NSRI has commended the unidentified Good Samaritan who used the NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy to rescue a man. He says despite the extensive search efforts, that went on after dark, there remains no sign of the missing man.
The 23-year-old man attended a hospital last night where he was treated for non-fatal drowning symptoms.
