Two KwaZulu-Natal women, who drowned while trying to help a relative who got into difficulty while swimming, have been hailed as heroes.
The incident took place near the Salt Rock tidal pool outside the Salt Rock Hotel on Saturday afternoon.
It is understood that the family was sitting on the beach when they noticed their relative, who had gone for a swim, was struggling in the water.
Witnesses told authorities that five of them ran in after him and formed a human chain to try to save him.
He eventually made his way back to shore along with three of his rescuers, but the woman and her niece were swept out past the backline, where they drowned.
The family of the women declined to speak to the media yesterday and they are not being named because their names were not officially released by authorities.
However the women were both described as heroes in messages of condolences on Facebook on Sunday.
In one message, a relative said: “This is impossible to accept, but God takes away the best. An awesome, awesome soul. Always willing to help. No matter what the circumstances.”
Another post included the hashtag “Shediedahero”.
Explaining what happened in the incident, IPSS Medical Rescue’s Paul Herbst said their ambulance and aquatic division, together with local lifeguards and Specialised Rescue, responded to reports of a mass drowning in progress on Saturday afternoon. On arrival, they discovered four people had already been removed from the water and required medical assistance but that two women were still unaccounted for.
“Crews assisted the near drowning victims, while a rescue swimmer from Specialised Rescue began the search for the missing victims,” Herbst said.
“As more resources arrived on scene, a member from IPSS took position on the rock tower by the tidal pool, guiding the rescue swimmer to the victims, who were located face down in the water.”
He said the rescue swimmer swam the two women back to shore.
“On reaching the shore, rescuers were joined by lifeguards who assisted bringing them up past the high water mark, where CPR was initiated,” he said.
He said despite extensive attempts at advanced life support resuscitation, the women could not be resuscitated.