Cape Town - The search for a 23-year-old Gauteng man will continue after he was swept out to sea by rip currents between Camps Bay and Glen Beach earlier today, the NSRI said.
Luke van Riet, the NSRI Bakoven station commander, said: “NSRI Bakoven and the City of Cape Town water rescue network were activated at 1.05pm following witness reports of a drowning in progress between Camps Bay Beach and Glen Beach.”
He said a local unidentified surfer had attempted to reach the man before he disappeared under water.
“The NSRI Bakoven sea rescue craft Gemini Legend and the EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter conducted a sea and air search. Rescue swimmers were deployed into the water, and they performed free dive search efforts. Despite extensive search efforts there remains no sign of the missing man,” said Van Riet.
Recently after responding to a number of calls around the Western Cape, National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) appealed to the public to be cautious and use the NSRI RSA SafeTrx free cellphone application.
Although spring has arrived, the NSRI appealed to the public use the app when they are on or near bodies of water, because winter sea conditions of rough seas, strong winds and stormy conditions still prevailed.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon urged all boaters, sailors, paddlers and anyone launching any kind of craft to go to sea to download and use the NSRI RSA SafeTrx app and have easily accessible safety gear on board their craft.