After heavy rains in the Eastern Cape, extreme flooding hit the province where six people have thus far been confirmed dead. And among the deceased, a 53-year-old police diver sadly drowned while on rescue duty.
Police diver drowns in Easter Cape flood
On Saturday, police diver Pierre Marx, went missing as he and co-divers were attending to the victims of the flood.
According to Eastern Cape police spokesperson, Tembinkosi Kinana, there was a specific complaint related to four people who were allegedly swept off Horse Shoe Valley causeway.
“As they arrived at the scene to assess the situation, they established that the complainant was on the Island in the mainstream of the Nahoon River together with three (3) deceased whilst the fourth one was still missing in the river,” says Kinana
The officers were successful in taking the tree bodies across the stream. However, Marx was sadly swept away in a strong current.
“After a successful rescue of the complainant, who is believed to be a local farmer, Marx struggled with a strong current sweeping him despite attempts by his colleagues to rescue him,” says Kinana.
Rescuers could only recover him on Sunday morning.
All helping hands on board
The flood mostly affected the informal settlements and homes in low-lying areas in East London and the Buffalo City Metro has deployed emergency teams to help residents.
And Gift of the Givers, a Non-Profit Organization, has also been helping where they can.
“In the early hours of Saturday morning, hundreds of families in Mdantsane and Duncan Village awoke to the sound and powerful streams of water flowing through their informal dwellings washing away or substantially displacing hundreds of structures,” Gift of the Givers said in a statement.
