DURBAN - A man, believed to be a foreign tourist, is presumed to have drowned when he got into difficulty while swimming in the Umhlanga Rocks area in Durban, paramedics said on Sunday.
Netcare 911 paramedics responded at about 9.20am on Sunday morning to reports of a drowning at a non-swimming beach north of Bronze Beach, Umhlanga Rocks, Netcare 911 spokesman Shawn Herbst said.
Reports from the scene indicated that a man, believed to be in his 40s, got into difficulty while swimming near the shore break. According to witnesses on the scene, the man had been swimming with his wife when he went under.
"The man has been presumed drowned due to the length he has already been submerged."
Netcare 911, Umhlanga Lifeguards, Durban Metro Police Search and Rescue, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Station 41 at Balito, and the South African Police Service (SAPS) and a police search and rescue unit were currently on the scene in a joint effort to locate and recover the body, Herbst said.