Durban - A seaside holiday turned tragic on Sunday when a Johannesburg man who had gone for a swim disappeared beneath the waves off eMdloti, north of Durban. He has been identified as 22-year-old Ryland Moses.
Paramedics from Netcare 911 responded to the drowning in progress, and spokesman Chris Botha said reports from the scene indicated two friends had gone swimming while others from their group sat on the sand.
“Both men were caught in the current and swept out to sea.
“Two lifeguards raced out to rescue the men. One lifeguard got to the one man and secured him with a floatation device, but as the other lifeguard got near the other man he disappeared under the water and was swept away by the current.”
The surviving man was believed to be 20-year-old Gerald Moist, also from Gauteng.
On Sunday afternoon, police search and rescue divers, volunteers from the National Sea Rescue Institute and IPSS Medical Rescue personnel scoured the waters searching for Moses.
By late afternoon, he was still missing, presumed drowned. The search was continuing.
Meanwhile on Saturday afternoon, the police search and rescue unit was dispatched to Bronze Beach in Umhlanga, where police divers recovered the partly decomposed body of a man floating at the backline.
His identity is not known.
The Mercury