Emergency services continue their search for three missing men at Pennington Beach on the KZN south coast following a tragic mass drowning incident on New Year’s Day that claimed three lives. A New Year’s Day celebration turned to tragedy at Pennington Beach on the KZN south coast, with search efforts continuing on Saturday for three men still missing following a mass drowning incident on Thursday evening. The confirmed death toll has now risen to three fatalities.
The initial incident saw a large group of people caught in rip currents near the tidal pool at approximately 6.20pm. The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Station 39 Rocky Bay, along with Police Search and Rescue, Umdoni lifeguards, and IPSS medical rescue, responded to the alarm. “At least five people were reported to be in distress initially,” said NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon.
He said alert lifeguards were instrumental in the initial phase, successfully managing to rescue an 18-year-old female from the water. The tragedy deepened later that night when, at “approximately 9.30pm on Thursday, police recovered the body of a second male, also aged 21, nearby on the beach,” Lambinon confirmed. Search efforts were extensive and resumed at first light on Friday, extending along the coastline and out to sea when a third fatality was confirmed.
Read Full Article on The Mercury
[paywall]
“During ongoing search efforts on Friday, an 18-year-old female was located sadly deceased on the beach at Bazley Beach,” Lambinon stated, adding that police determined that she had also gone missing from the Pennington Beach drowning accident. The most recent NSRI update, issued late on Friday, indicates a total of three young men, all believed to be 21 years old and from KwaZulu-Natal, remain missing.
[/paywall]
