Pennington Beach: Search for two missing continues after five swept out to sea in KZN
There was a tragic incident at Pennington Beach on New Year's Day where five people were swept out to sea.
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One person was rescued, two people drowned and two others remain missing after swimmers were swept out to sea at Pennington Main Beach on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
The incident happened last night according to IPSS Medical Rescue who said emergency services were called to Pennington Main Beach after five swimmers were caught in rough ocean conditions.
According to IPSS Medical Rescue, its paramedics and the National Sea Rescue Institute responded to assist lifeguards at Pennington Main Beach.
By late Thursday night, “one person had been successfully rescued and two bodies sadly recovered.”
The search, however, is not over, as “two people remain missing.”
Authorities confirmed that efforts to locate the missing swimmers would resume at first light today.
“SAPS Search and Rescue, Lifeguards, and the NSRI will return to the beach this morning to continue the search,” the IPSS said.
As search operations continued in the south of the province, another emergency unfolded further north on Friday morning. IPSS Search and Rescue reported a separate incident involving a swimmer in difficulty off Thompsons Bay Beach in Ballito.
“On Friday morning, IPSS Search and Rescue received reports of a swimmer in distress off Thompsons Bay Beach in Ballito,” the statement read.
Multiple agencies were immediately deployed, and “a search is currently underway by IPSS Search and Rescue, Quadacusa Lifeguards, and NSRI Station 41.”